Klopp feared he'd get sacked by Liverpool if he didn't improve them quickly enough

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he felt he would be sacked by Liverpool if he didn't oversee an improvement in the club's fortunes quickly enough when he first arrived.

The Reds appointed the former Borussia Dortmund head coach in October 2015, with the Merseysiders having finished in sixth place in the table the previous season under Brendan Rodgers.

And the German, who has since guided Liverpool to a Champions League crown and was on the verge of securing the Premier League title prior to the coronavirus pandemic, knew that managing the Reds was a step up that came with consequences for a lack of progress. "It was clear we needed time," Klopp told Sky Sports. "It was clear we couldn’t fix it overnight. Everybody wanted that but it was clear [it couldn’t be done straight away].

"So I had to ask for time, that’s how it is. Before in my career I had never got the sack so I had no real experience with that. But I knew now I’m on a different level [at Liverpool] and if I cannot deliver here quick enough then I’m going to get the sack, as easy as that.

"That’s why I said if I sit here in four years still then something happened (Liverpool improving and winning trophies) probably in between now and then. It’s not that I asked for four years, I asked for a little bit of time. We got that.