Jurgen Klopp is Liverpool’s most successful manager of the 21st century having conquered all before him during almost nine years with the club.

The German is still missed at Anfield, having stepped aside at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

It was not just Klopp‘s trophy-winning habit or his magnetic personality which so warmed Liverpool supporters to him, but the football which his teams played was often exciting and front-footed, too.

This was in contrast to the only other Liverpool manager to win the Champions League since the turn of the millennium: Rafa Benitez.

Benitez’s sides were well-known for their pragmatic, sometimes sterile style of football. This at times stagnated some of the more flair-driven players within his Liverpool squads.

One of those who struggled to come to terms with the Spaniard’s approach was Ryan Babel. The Dutch winger failed to spark across three-and-a-half seasons at Anfield. But according to Babel himself, his Liverpool career would have been much different under Klopp.

Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

It was not as though forward players did not succeed under Benitez at Liverpool. Fernando Torres’ Reds’ career is proof of that if any was needed.

However, in terms of wide players, the former Valencia boss clearly preferred hard-working options such...