Liverpool legend Ray Houghton believes current boss Jurgen Klopp was "cocky" when he took charge of the club.
But he believes the German manager has more than justified his faith in his abilities, winning the club the Premier League and Champions League.
Klopp's men ended Liverpool's 30 year wait for a league title this season.
"It's been a phenomenal four-and-a-half seasons under Jurgen," former Liverpool midfielder Houghton told talkSPORT.
"There were plenty of managers before him that I'm sure came with the ambition to win the league, and it didn't quite work out for them, but they weren't as bold as him. You look at one of the first team talks that he gave to the press and he turned around and said: 'I'm going to win the league'.
"Everyone looked at him and thought 'you're a bit cocky aren't you, you haven't won it for 26 years', but he was true to his word. He believed in this team, he believed in the Liverpool supporters, he knew what they wanted and he delivered.
"Of course you take losses along the way. They lost the League Cup, they lost the Europa League, they lost the Champions League to Real Madrid.
"When you keep getting whacked you need to get yourself off the canvas and come back – and that's what they have done. Won the Champions League and now this season are Premier League champions.
"It's been a phenomenal rise in the last four-and-a-half years consistency-wise, the will to win and the players that he has assembled.
"Recruitment is one of the precious things to get right in football and tell me a player that he has brought in who hasn't really done it? [Naby] Keita, if you're being really picky. Everyone else who has come in has done a job and they have worked as a unit.
"You have got [Mohamed] Salah, you've got [Sadio] Mane, you've got [Roberto] Firmino - they are the ones that are the game changers and match winners - but there is so much in midfield and defence that they do so well, and that's the reason why they have been so consistent."
