Europa League win for Liverpool would turn Jurgen Klopp's first year into a masterpiece

Joggeli is the affectionate name the locals have for the St Jakob Park in Basle, which was appropriate for the training session Jurgen Klopp laid on Tuesday night.

Not exactly light, but hardly punishing. A warm-up saunter in the sunshine, a half-pitch game watched with minimal interruption — cracking goal from James Milner, by the way — a bit of chat in the centre circle.

There was penalty practice for three of his Englishmen — Milner, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge — and to be fair they probably need it more than the Germans. As promised, Klopp kept it very low-key, very normal.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has the chance to mastermind a Europa League win this season 

Reds midfielder Philippe Coutinho (centre) dribbles under pressure in training ahead of Wednesday's game

There is another session booked somewhere private on Wednesday morning, the Liverpool manager not being in the habit of giving his secrets away. Not that there is any great mystery around the influence he has had on this club.

'We've made massive progress under the manager,' said his captain, Henderson. 'You can see the impact, not just on the players, but the fans too. We've all gone up a level since he's been here.'

It isn't just about the famed gegenpress or the heavy metal football — a phrase that seems to irritate Klopp now, perhaps making him sound too much like a headbanger, removing any subtlety from his approach.

It isn't the increased energy levels, either, although Villarreal were startled by the ferocity of Liverpool's closing in the last round, and Sevilla may be, too.

Klopp's revolution is as much about what he represents in a game that is increasingly transient and short-term. Permanence, commitment, the long haul. At a time when managers are dismissed in a rush, or protect themselves by electing to work in short-term cycles, Klopp builds projects.

His last two jobs have stretched over seven years. If he remained in charge at Liverpool for the same length of time, he would still be in charge at the beginning of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

Louis van Gaal committed to Manchester United for three years. Pep Guardiola the same at Bayern Munich, and now Manchester City.

There is a feeling, already, with Klopp that he could be another Arsene Wenger — a foreign coach who came to England, fell in love with the football, the league and his club, and stayed.

And why not? Before leaving Germany, Klopp spoke of the Bundesliga becoming like the Scottish Premiership due to the dominance of Bayern Munich. If anything, the situation has worsened since his departure with Munich's purchase of Borussia Dortmund's best player — Mario Gotze, then Robert Lewandowski, now Mats Hummels — becoming a regular occurrence.

Klopp, who enjoyed tremendous success at Borussia Dortmund, took over at Liverpool in October last year 

Liverpool midfielder Adam Lallana (centre) is put through his paces in training at St Jakob Park in Basle

From there, Klopp arrived in the Premier League, in a season when it was won by Leicester City. A world of possibilities has opened. He has alighted in Liverpool in a season of high emotion, taken his players to two finals in his first season, and recorded arguably the greatest night in the club's history since the miracle of Istanbul.

They love him; he loves them. One imagines this is how it started for Wenger at Arsenal, too. When he walked through the door in September 1996, was he really counting on still being there 20 years later? English football stirred something in him. Is it stirring the same feeling in Klopp too?

Anfield regulars hope so. 'Liverpool was made for me and I was made for Liverpool,' said Bill Shankly, but those who have witnessed some of Liverpool's European nights this season believe that could equally apply to Klopp.

On the touchline, he knows how to push the buttons. In character he is exactly what the fans want from their guy: demonstrative, furiously committed, engaged, extreme. The night of his appointment he sat in the bar of his hotel, with friends, drinking pints. He didn't go to the fanciest restaurant — and Liverpool has a few — didn't hide away from the public. It was clear he would fit right in.

Liverpool defender Nathaniel Clyne (left) shields the ball from team-mate Lucas Leiva in training 

Reds midfielder Emre Can (left) tussles for possession in training alongside striker Christian Benteke 

'Seven years in Liverpool?' he contemplated. 'Hopefully! I hope they hope I stay a little longer, too. It is the only way I can work.

'When I first came here, I was told the British media could be pretty impatient. They are your best friends until they are not your best friends any more. But I don't feel that pressure. I don't think I have all the time in the world — but I have never felt doubt around me in any of the clubs I have worked at.

'That makes me completely free to make decisions and try to develop the team. I came to Liverpool because I was really, really convinced about the quality of these players and to see how they deserve this final makes me feel really good. We want to try to use this moment for the future.'

And what a future it might be. This, remember, is Klopp working with a group of players that he inherited from Brendan Rodgers. He has not yet had the opportunity to make his improvements, to strengthen his weaknesses, to even take them through a full pre-season.

For a coach who arrived midway through a season, Klopp has marshalled his resources extraordinarily well. His way of playing is so strenuous, many contemporaries thought Liverpool would hit a wall in spring, unused to such exertion without proper preparation. Instead, here they are, one of three Premier League teams still going and at arguably the highest level.

Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge stretches ahead of Wednesday's Europa League final against Sevilla

Klopp's longevity at his previous clubs suggests that he could be in line to build something on Merseyside

Klopp has drawn almost superhuman fight from his squad, most stunningly against Dortmund, and now stands on the brink of the first European trophy of his career, and a place in the Champions League next season.

That is the bonus for the winners on Wednesday, although Milner rightly put into perspective that a major trophy for its own sake was an equal incentive.

'You play football to be involved in the biggest games and we've got a job to finish,' he said.

'It's about looking back at the end of the career. There is a great financial benefit to Champions League football, but if you have played in it for six seasons but not won anything, there isn't a lot to show when you retire.'

Klopp was equally determined. 'I can promise we will try everything — everything,' he said. 'We know how much our supporters want to win this cup. They have travelled around Europe.

'Everywhere you go, there is somebody already there — Liverpool supporters, in every part of the world. And we would love to be the team who can make the dreams come true for these people. What more can I say? We are ready.

Liverpool midfielder Can controls the ball in training before the Europa League final clash with Sevilla 

The charismatic Klopp is already extremely popular with Liverpool supporters having joined the club last year

'We have done a lot in seven months, I know that. But what I think of as success and what is considered success may be different. I know what we have done to be here, but in 100 years' time, if we lose, nobody is going to look at the record books and think, "Yeah, that was cool".

'If we win it will be easier for people to see our success — so I'll try to make that happen. I will tell the players, "Be brave, be patient enough to pass long enough to make the last pass, the important pass".'

It wasn't just passing that took Liverpool past Villarreal in the previous round, though. The intensity of their play undoubtedly rattled their opponents — and Liverpool remain the only team outside Spain to eliminate a La Liga side in Europe this season. 

'It has been the best football country,' Klopp added. 'The best coaching, the best scouting. When you see the players who have not been picked by Spain for the European Championship, you think "Oh" because they would certainly play for other countries.

'It's the highest level, but then Germany are world champions. So... things change.'

Indeed they do. Klopp has altered Liverpool, and in no time at all, too.

At Joggeli on Wednesday evening — it means 'Jake', or 'little Jakub' — we will see whether a work in progress can be redrawn as a minor masterpiece of a first season.