Jurgen Klopp shocked the entire football world. The well-known specialist announced his resignation as head coach of Liverpool. The German will leave his position after the end of the season.
In life there are many difficult situations for which a person psychologically prepares himself in order to accept what is due with a cool head at the moment X. But sometimes it happens that no matter how much you prepare for the obvious, the result still becomes unexpected and stunning. Klopp's decision is exactly that story. Over the past 1.5-2 years, a similar scenario was expected, but still came as a bolt from the blue.
To understand the full drama of the situation, let’s remember the chronology:
- October 2015Liverpool, after a powerful 2013/14 season, in which it never reached the Premier League title, is in a serious crisis and is languishing in the middle of the standings with no prospects of rising higher and the risk of being left without the Europa League playoffs. The result is the dismissal of Brendan Rodgers from the post of head coach.
- The same October 2015. A few days later, Jurgen Klopp was appointed, who returned to work after pauses in career.
- Season 2015/16Liverpool and Klopp immediately reach the Europa League final, simultaneously beating Manchester United in the playoffs and achieving a heroic victory over the German's former club Borussia Dortmund, but losing to the unofficial «hosts» of the tournament, Seville. In the English League Cup final, Manchester City loses only in a penalty shootout.
- The next few yearsLiverpool is successfully going through the process of restructuring, making its way to leading roles in world club football and becoming a truly formidable force and one of the main favorites in all tournaments.
In the nine years that Jurgen Klopp has been in charge of Liverpool, the Merseysiders have won almost every possible trophy: the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, FA Super Cup and, of course, Premier League gold. The “Reds” could not reach the last triumph from the very moment of the creation of the league, but it was with Klopp that they reached such a cherished peak, creating real competition for the powerful Manchester City machine of Pep Guardiola.
The only unclosed gestalt Liverpool still have the Europa League under Jurgen. It is symbolic that Klopp took over the club when it was playing in this particular European Cup tournament. The German is parting ways with Liverpool after the end of the season, which the Merseysiders are still playing in the same Europa League and have every chance of winning the trophy.
Why is Klopp parting with Liverpool? Everything about the departure story is shocking. The very fact of the event, as well as the fact that Jurgen announced this during the season, during which his team is leading in the Premier League. The German warned the management about his intentions even earlier — as early as November 2023. The main reason for the decision is, in his own words, the fatigue factor. And this must be understood globally.
The profession of a coach takes a lot of effort and energy, and due to the current trend of changing the format of tournaments in order to increase the number of matches, mentors are deprived of any opportunity to live at least for the sake of themselves and their families. They don’t have time for this anyway, and in modern times, not at all. Coaches turn into robots, and an increasingly thick curtain closes in front of them from what we are used to calling human.
And even Klopp, an incredibly charismatic character who seems endlessly alive and vibrant in public, is no exception. This is exactly what he says: “I want to understand what life is.”
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"I like absolutely everything about this club. I like everything about the city, about our fans, I love the team and the club staff. I love everything. But the fact that I make this decision anyway shows how convinced I am that I have to make it. The thing is, I'm running out of energy. Now, of course, I have no problems. I've known for some time that I would have to announce this decision at some point, but for now I'm completely fine. I know I can't do this job over and over and over and over again. After the years we spent, after everything we went through together, my respect and love for you grew. And the truth is the least that I owe you. So here's the truth. That’s it,” Klopp told the club’s press service.
For full understanding, just watch the video of this interview. It's written all over Jurgen's face.
«How cool Klopp is!» — this phrase is firmly entrenched in the vocabulary of the Russian football community. Surely something similar exists in the West. And even in the current situation, Jurgen came out looking handsome. Here are a number of his quotes:
- «People from my headquarters needed to know everything in advance, it is especially important for the club to know about this, otherwise it would be impossible make plans and work. The club needs time»
- «It so happens that over the years my role has been quite dominant. There have been many moments when I wished I had not had to leave. But I am convinced that since such a decision must be made , then it’s better to do it much earlier than later. Doing it too late is the worst option.»
- «Liverpool have an excellent foundation for the future. I wanted to inform everyone as early as possible so as not to prevent the club from making the right decisions due to lack of time.»
These thoughts only confirm Klopp's professionalism. The coach informed management of the plans in advance and gave the bosses room to maneuver. But most importantly, Klopp and his team will not leave ruins behind. The coach could have left during or after the previous season, when everything was falling apart for Liverpool, but he stayed, restored order and saved the team from disaster. Now the “Reds” are again among the leaders, they can see off the Boss with trophies, and with the next coach they will have reserves for further development.
The only thing that upsets us is that world football, although temporarily, is still losing an important fighting unit . Without Klopp, he will become much paler. I would like to hope that not for long.