John Arne Riise sure Liverpool have appointed right man in Jurgen Klopp
Monday 12 October 2015 08:37, UK
Jurgen Klopp's appointment as manager has restored the belief of the club's fans, according to former Reds defender John Arne Riise.
The 48-year-old succeeded Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager last week, describing himself as 'the normal one', when he was unveiled at a press conference on Friday.
But Riise - a Champions League winner with Liverpool in 2005 - believes Klopp is anything but normal, insisting his former club have a bright future under the ex-Borussia Dortmund manager.
"Jurgen Klopp has lifted the Kop," Riise told Sky Sports. "Now the belief is back.
"I'm very excited and I think he's the right man to change things around. His press conference and interviews were amazing. It gave me goosebumps watching how he spoke.
"If his actions and the performances replicate the way he spoke in the press conference then things are looking very good.
"Anfield needs to be a place where people fear coming to play. When I played at Liverpool, opposition teams were afraid to come there because of the fans and the way the team played.
"Klopp said he wants his team to go at 100 per cent from the start for the full 90 minutes and I think the players will need to be fit, strong and ready to to dig deep.
"They couldn't have got a better manager than Jurgen Klopp. The whole club, the fans and the players have been given a real boost and I think they will fight for him but he needs to be given time."
Riise is in the midst of a new chapter of his career, playing for Delhi Dynamos in the Indian Super League, where he is currently being deployed as a centre back by player-manager Roberto Carlos.
"Roberto asked me where I thought I should play and in recent years I've become more of a centre-back so we tried it and I feel confident there," the 35-year-old added.
"It's a little weird because I always used to bomb forward, crossing and shooting and now I have to sit back and try and control things, but I'm enjoying it and Roberto gives me a lot of freedom to play my own game and that means a lot."
Riise was speaking after delivering an inspirational speech to finalists at the HTGIFA event in Delhi, which is India's largest inter-locality football tournament.
"I think community initiatives like this are so important and helping to build Indian football is also part of the reason I came here," the ex-Fulham and Roma defender added.
"I know people here look up to footballers who have played in England and Europe and I want to help Indian football move in the right direction.
"I know cricket is very big in India but hopefully football can catch up. It's very important for kids to see that there is a future if you work hard and stay in sport."
