LIVERPOOL BOSS JURGEN KLOPP CONFIRMS HE IS SET TO LEAVE THE CLUB AT THE END OF THE SEASON
In a shocking bit of news, Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp announced on Friday that he will leave Liverpool Football Club at the end of the season.
“I have to, I will leave the club at the end of the season,” said Klopp in a sit-down interview with Liverpool FC media. “I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment when you hear it for the first time but obviously I can explain it, or at least try to explain it. I love absolutely everything about this club. I love everything about the city. I love everything about our supporters. I love the team. I love the staff. I love everything.”
“That I still take this decision probably shows you that I’m convinced it’s the one I have to take. It is that I am running out of energy. I have no problem [announcing it] now, obviously, I think I’ve known it already for longer that I would have to announce it at one point. I’m absolutely fine now but I know that I cannot do the job again, and again, and again, and again.”
Klopp clarified that the decision to leave was not due to a health issue but rather a fatigue issue and confirmed he told the club about his decision in November while in the early planning stages for next season. He said, “When we sat there together talking about potential signings, the next summer camp, and can we go wherever, I just realized… the thought came up, ‘I’m not sure I’m [going to be] here anymore.’ And I was surprised by myself about that and then I started obviously thinking about it.”
The German admitted he had a difficult season last year and he probably would have parted ways with Liverpool then. “Of course last season was kind of a super difficult season,” said Klopp. “…For me, it was super, super important that I can help to bring this team back on the rails. It was all I was thinking about.”
Klopp said he would have preferred to keep the details of his exit from the club discreet until the end of the season, when he had perhaps won everything for the club, but he thought that wasn’t possible with a lot of information being leaked to the media. “It’s maybe a surprise that we could keep it [a secret] until now,” he said.
Still only 56-year-old, Klopp said it was also imperative that members of his staff, and especially the club knew early to be able to plan for the following season. As per European journalist, Fabrizio Romano, Klopp’s assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders, Peter Krawietz, and development coach Victor Matos are also expected to leave with him at the end of the season.
The Liverpool boss also addressed the fans and said that after everything they and he had been through together, he at least owed them the truth, which was the reason for the announcement in the middle of the year, and not at the end of it.
Klopp had an incredibly successful nine-year period in the domestic league, managing 317 total games, winning 199 times, drawing 74 times and losing in just 44 games. He also won the Premier League title during that period and finished runners-up in the 2018/19 season just one point shy of Manchester City with 97 points and having lost just one game all season. The Stuttgart-born manager also won two PL Manager of the Season awards (2019/20 & 2021/22) alongside nine PL Manager of the Month awards.
Klopp won a total of six major titles at Liverpool including a Champions League title, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and the Premier League. He also added the FA Community Shield in 2022.
With Jürgen Klopp expected out the door in the summer, Liverpool will now shift their attention to finishing the season strong while simultaneously scouting for the German’s replacement. Among the coaches expected to be on the candidates list to take over the Liverpool job in the summer include club legend and current Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso, Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi, and Al Ettifaq manager and former Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard.
Alonso, who has recently emerged as one of the best young managers in Europe this season was asked by German media on Friday about replacing Klopp and if he’d be interested. He said: “At the moment, I am really enjoying my work here. I feel that each day [here] is a challenge, each game is a challenge and we are on an intense but beautiful journey here at Leverkusen. I am trying to give my best to help my players to be ready for the next thing and that’s my goal.”
“To be honest, I’m not in that moment to think about the next step. I’m thinking about where I am right now. I think that I am in a great place and I am enjoying [it here], and I think it’s a great place… What’s going to happen in the future, I don’t know and I don’t really care at the moment.”
Leverkusen are currently having one of the best seasons ever in league history. The North Rhine-Westphalian club are unbeaten in the Bundesliga this season and sit atop of the league table after 18 games, four points clear of the defending champions, Bayern Munich, due in large part to Xabi Alonso.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag said Klopp’s decision to step away from Liverpool was “not good for the Premier League” but said he understood why he wants to step away now. “It’s no good for the Premier League,” said the Dutchman. “He has made an era there. He built the club, he brought the club back to where they belong. So, congratulations on that. He’s done an amazing job at Liverpool.”
“I can understand that, yeah. Nine years is a long time… Premier League is very intense, the combination with European club football, when you’re there nine years it’s a long period. So I can understand that he’s running out of energy, and that it’s one of his arguments to step down.”
Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season means the end of an era for the Premier League in which he and Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola dominated, winning the last six Premier League titles between them.
The two managers also hold the joint-record for the longest Premier League winning streak, a relentless run of 18 consecutive matches in the domestic league. Klopp’s Liverpool achieved that feat between October 2019 and February 2020, on their way to their first Premier League title in 30 years.
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Pete. This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.