As I sit here writing this piece, the weather is remarkably similar to a Sunday just over a year ago. This Sunday, October 4 2015, is etched in my mind, as it was the day Brendan Rodgers was shown the door at Liverpool.As soon as the final whistle sounded at Goodison Park I remember vividly turning off my TV and going for a walk in the sunshine – eerily similar conditions beam through my window as I type this. I trudged along the rood before turning out onto a dirt track near my house, and all I could think about was the nothingness surrounding my club. The situation was by no means a catastrophe, but it seemed as if, under Rodgers, the Reds were meandering. There was little invention in the style of play, the players that had performed so well during that 2013/14 season seemed stale and the manager himself looked tired.Collectively, everything around the football club was tired. Worn out from euphoric highs and solemn lows. Something had to give.As I walked back through the door I was certainly not expecting the news of Rodgers’ exit (broken to me through the vine of Thierry Henry and Jamie Carragher live on Sky Sports).

Many Liverpool fans, I’m sure, didn’t know how to feel. As the dust settled some claimed he should have gone after the humbling 6-1 loss at Stoke, while others lamented the club’s lack of faith in a coach that had brought about the best season in living memory for a large swathe of supporters.

There was a clear divide.

However, that divide was well and truly brought together just four days later – a year ago today. Jurgen Klopp was the bridge. A bridge sorely needed.

The news had been bubbling away for a few days, but few, including myself, dared to believe it. However, on October 8 2015, it came true. Klopp agreed to become Liverpool manager.

Football - Liverpool - Juergen Klopp Press Conference - Anfield - 9/10/15 New Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp poses after the press conference Action Images via Reuters / Craig Brough Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY.

As he stood on the turf at Anfield in his jeans and blazer it became increasingly clear that things would be different this time around. There was an energy to the man that Liverpool had been missing. An energy that had been sapped that day Steven Gerrard slipped and eroded when Dwight Gayle scored after 88 minutes at Selhurst Park to make it Crystal Palace 3-3 Liverpool. 2014/15 followed, but it seemed few had their heart in it. Gerrard himself was crushed by the cruel way his best chance to win the title to cap his career had faded, Luis Suarez had moved away to Barcelona and Rodgers’ verve, his confidence, seemed to have evaporated.

Let’s make it clear. The start to ‘Klopp-Mania’ was by no means a runaway success. The first result was a 0-0 draw at Spurs, the second a 1-1 at home to Southampton. But there were signs of life. Green shoots of recovery were poking through the turf and growing.

These shoots started to blossom at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool ran out 1-3 winners in a game of very different managerial fortunes. Jose Mourinho was at his lowest ebb – and didn’t last much longer – while Klopp’s Reds put in the sort of showing that has, to date, summed up his approach since his arrival in England.

I won’t bore you with the details, but the overarching narrative is that Liverpool were full of running, full of belief and absolutely crammed full of confidence. Just three weeks prior to this the feeling was very different, to say the least.

The season itself was a mix of highs and lows, with baffling losses at Watford and Southampton juxtaposed by the Europa League run and the double over Manchester City in the league. There was even a League Cup Final thrown into the mix.

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2016/17 has started in more convincing fashion in terms of results, but much of the feeling is the same. ‘Heavy metal football’ was the promise made by Klopp, and boy has he delivered. Liverpool are the leading scorers in Premier League action across 2016. They are the joint highest scorers of the seven games played this term, too.

Liverpool had scored just seven goals in seven league games at the start of 2015/16 under Rodgers. They have since netted 74 in 38. One in one has increased to just shy of one in two. The metal has indeed been heavy.

 

Klopp has turned players many were writing off under Rodgers’ reign into respected Premier League performers. Roberto Firmino is now, arguably, one of the most dangerous withdrawn attackers in the division. Dejan Lovren is no longer a one-man disaster zone. Emre Can is an imposing box-to-box midfielder. He’s even worked well with youngsters, with Sheyi Ojo expected to break into the first-team on a regular basis after some cameo appearances last season.

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But, by far the biggest aspect of Klopp’s arrival in the feeling of unity between supports and players. The German has been the catalyst for this. Many mocked him when he took his troops to celebrate a last-gasp equaliser at home to West Brom. A deflected last-gasp equaliser, too. Rival fans had yet more ammo, but this simple act served to change the feeling at the club. Granted, results continued to fluctuate – just seven days later Watford ran out 3-0 winners at Vicarage Road – but the pieces were put in place, and, without that moment, it’s hard to imagine the Dortmund results being possible.

A lot has changed in 369 days. 61 games have been played, 30 have been won. 113 goals have been scored, while two cup finals have been witnessed. But, for me, Klopp’s first year has been about the unquantifiable. That feeling that everything is possible. The title? Why not?

If you had told me this when I walked back through my door after that sunny walk, I wouldn’t have believed you.

But, as Klopp said: “doubters to believers”.