SINGAPORE — While Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s big personality quickly made him a huge favourite at Anfield soon after his arrival, he has not made quite the same impact in terms of results on the field.

Liverpool finished the 2015-2016 season in eighth position, lost two cup finals, and did not qualify for any European competition.

However, former Liverpool and Germany striker Karl-Heinz Riedle says that his fellow countryman’s managerial calibre in English football should be assessed starting only this season.

Riedle, who played for the Reds from 1997 to 1999, also reckons that Klopp will be the man to eventually lead Liverpool to the English Premier League (EPL) title, although he is not confident that it will happen this season.

“So far, for me, he has a done great job. It wasn’t easy taking over from Brendan Rogers, and he changed some things that maybe you couldn’t see (now),” said Riedle, 50, who is in town to promote the upcoming England Masters versus Germany Masters match that will be held at the National Stadium on Nov 12.

“But now is the time (to assess him). I mean, it is the first time that he can sign players.

“This is now maybe his time. We have to see in another maybe half a year, or a year, if things are working with the players he has in the squad.

“Clearly, in the long term, everybody expects titles from him. Liverpool wants to win something desperately for a long time now, so it is a hard job for him.

“But I am convinced if somebody can (take Liverpool to titles), he (is the one who) can do it.”

One reason Riedle thinks that Klopp will eventually succeed in leading Liverpool to their first league title since 1990 is because of his success in the German Bundesliga with a Borussia Dortmund side that did not have big-name signings.

During his seven seasons with Dortmund, Klopp won two Bundesliga titles, two German Super Cups, and reached the 2013 Champions League final.

“It (Klopp’s managerial style) can work in the EPL,” said Riedle. “You could see that when he took over (Liverpool), he tried to fix the style of play quite quickly. But it is not so easy because players have to adapt to a new system, and a new philosophy which takes a while.

“Still, he is famous for winning titles (with) ... players who are not world-class.

“He brought (Shinji) Kagawa (up) from nothing, and he built up (Mario) Gotze too. He had other really good players that are not well-profiled as the top players in the world, (but) he showed that he can win titles with less-experienced players.

“I’m not sure if Liverpool can (win the EPL) this year, because their signings are just okay. But you never know in football — you’ve seen that last season with Leicester City.

“But as I said, when Klopp signed his players for Dortmund, nobody expected that he could even get close to Bayern Munich. And then, he won the (Bundesliga) twice with Dortmund. Let’s see what happens with Liverpool.”

Tickets for the Nov 12 England Masters v German Masters match are sold at SportsHubTix and www.mastersfootball.com