‘Completely new to me’: Jurgen Klopp shares what didn’t impress him about Anfield the first time he saw it

Jurgen Klopp has shared that he wasn’t impressed with the home dressing room the first time he visited Anfield as Liverpool manager.

Klopp was speaking to BT Sport as part of their “The Boot Room Boys” film. The boss was asked about Liverpool’s tradition of ‘the boot room’ – a private space for the manager and staff within the stadium.

He said while he loved the tradition, and the little room itself, he wasn’t too enthralled with the old changing room.

“So, the first thing which was completely new to me was when I arrived at Liverpool,” said Klopp. “(We) went first time to the stadium and they showed me the dressing room, which was not very impressive in the old stand, to be honest.”

“Then we went down the floor and they say: ‘OK, this is your little Boot Room.’ I said: ‘What is that?’ They explained it to me, and it was really nice – like a little pub in the stadium, it’s only for the manager and stuff like this. I liked it a lot,” said the 54-year-old.

Klopp didn’t have to deal with Liverpool’s rickety old dressing room for long. By the time his first full season rolled around, Liverpool had opened the new main stand.

After using temporary changing areas for a while, the new state-of-the-art dressing rooms were opened in time for the 2017/18 season.

It’s a shame to hear that Klopp wasn’t too keen on the old changing rooms. They were undoubtedly a little small for purpose in the current times. But there was a rich history within them.

However, as Klopp pointed out, a change was needed. As the German has made Liverpool a force once again on the pitch, the off-field developments have matched apace.

Anfield is a terrific old stadium that puts fear into opposition players. But it was clear that without a redevelopment, Liverpool was falling behind their Premier League rivals with shiny new or at least vastly bigger stadiums.

The rebuilding of the main stand and the dressing rooms has given Anfield a face-lift in keeping with the quality of the football being played there.

With the Anfield Road stand also undergoing a major transformation currently, the old stadium is set to look even better in the next year or so.

The old dressing room that Klopp wasn’t impressed by is a thing of the past. The Liverpool that he inherited looks immeasurably different from the one he is set to leave behind in 2024.