Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp tells ESPN FC's Melissa Reddy that re-signing Philippe Coutinho from Barcelona would take "big, big money" and "it's not our year for that." (1:31)

NEW YORK -- Jurgen Klopp doesn't remember the name of the street, but he recalls the staggering traffic that delayed his arrival in Manhattan for the meeting that started it all. He can't distinguish exactly which high-rise building where that meeting was held, given the scale of steel structures painting the New York skyline, but he reminisces about the exhilaration of walking into the interview that would shape his life and one of the world's biggest sporting institutions.

The street was Lexington Avenue. The skyscraper was the law offices of Shearman & Sterling. The date was Oct. 1, 2015, and Liverpool wanted to assess the long-term vision of the man they coveted to become manager of the club.

It took Klopp six hours after landing at Kennedy Airport to navigate through to New York's East Side due to the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly, which was coincidentally the same amount of time Klopp spent outlining his blueprint.

Liverpool principal owner John W. Henry, Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon, chairman Tom Werner and the club's former chief executive officer, Ian Ayre, were so impressed by the German's depth of detail that they began drafting an agreement with Klopp's agent, Marc Kosicke, just 60 minutes into the chat. Klopp did not care for playing small; he swung big in his meeting, insisting he would restore the Reds as a powerhouse. And the Champions League-winning manager has delivered.

Create a certifiable on-pitch identity? Check. Reawaken the fan base? Check. Return Liverpool to being a force domestically and on the Continent? Check.

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At the iconic Lotte New York Palace hotel, a 10-minute walk from where he first sketched his strategy for the club, Klopp reflects on the evolution of the team in the nearly four years since his appointment.

"To be honest, that day when we were here and spoke we were full of hope, full of dreams, full of optimism," he tells ESPN FC. "Why would I not be? I signed [on] to become manager because it's a wonderful club. I liked the squad, I loved the history, all that stuff.

"So I was very, very optimistic that we'd be successful. In my dreams in that moment, we were probably more successful during these [past] four years than we have been actually," Klopp says with a laugh, but the reality is while Liverpool's progress under his watch was underlined by lifting the Champions League in June, the first trophy of his tenure, it is not solely defined by it.

Jurgen Klopp is excited as Liverpool prepare for the new season. 'At the moment, it's not about bringing in new people. It's really about all of us using our experience to be better than before,' he said. Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images

Long-serving staff at Melwood, the club's football headquarters, share their perspectives on a "world-class change in every respect" at Liverpool, from nutrition through to recruitment, from the quality of the backroom team through to the upgraded playing personnel. Securing a sixth European Cup by beating Tottenham 2-0 in Madrid and getting 97 points -- seven more than Arsenal's "Invincibles" and 21 better than Manchester United's treble-winning class of 1999 -- in the Premier League last season was no accident.

"We have made a lot of decisions and will make much more in future and not all of them may work out at the end," Klopp says. "You have to accept that you need luck in these situations as well, so it means you can fail. But you have to try and you don't have to change things just for changing sake; it is so you can improve, and improvement means if you have the same person doing the same job for another year, he becomes better at it with the time and experiences.

"At the moment, it's not about bringing in new people and stuff like that. It's really about all of us using the experience we've had for being better than before. That means all this experience, all these better people will throw their knowledge together and we will be stronger. It's as easy as that and that's the plan. It's how it is with footballers, but it is also how it is with the backroom staff: There is development.

"I'm not afraid of not having a 100% hit rate with decisions or invent some new things for football or whatever. We don't have to; we just have to use our knowledge."