Only rivals would celebrate Klopp’s exit from Liverpool
Hgerman’s feats at Anfield are such that FSG knows it is wiser to refresh the squad and not the manager
Hans-joachim Watzke, the former Borussia Dortmund chief executive, recently made a statement which should resonate with anyone starting to doubt Jurgen Klopp.
Of Klopp’s Dortmund exit in 2015, Watzke said: “Maybe it would have been better if we had changed the whole team instead of the coach. There are so many good players, but not many great coaches. People are always wise after the event.”
A lot of people are focusing on the decline in Klopp’s last year at Dortmund. There should be more attention on how long it has taken them to get over his departure.
Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool’s owner, was never going to make the same mistake as its German counterpart. As a renowned strategist, John W Henry would always ask himself this: who benefits most when Klopp leaves Liverpool? The champagne would flow in the boardrooms of Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton, anticipating the return of the pre-klopp period in Anfield history when the club spent one of five years in the Champions League. At Liverpool, the response of modern supporters would be comparable to the departure of Kenny Dalglish in 1991, or Bill Shankly in 1974.
The reaction to the last two months has made me realise that no matter how often those of us connected to the club reiterate that, either the message has not been received beyond Merseyside or there is a baffling ignorance of it.
This column is not a knee-jerk reaction to Liverpool’s timely win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League. I decided to write it earlier this week having been irritated by the fact that Klopp’s future was even on the agenda.
When the criticism of the manager is such that FSG and Klopp feel compelled to clarify there is no danger of a change, a reality check is needed.
The flak was bound to intensify after a sixth straight home defeat, and I stand by criticism of Liverpool in recent weeks. The players’ response, even when accounting for key absentees, and four-week delay recruiting two defenders, disappointed me. Without on-field leaders such as Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, there has been a surprising mental fragility during adversity. Do not mistake that for an erosion of trust or belief in the manager.
The day Klopp goes will end a glorious era. No Liverpool fan I know is angry with Klopp. Nobody else could have achieved what Klopp has since 2015, delivering trophies and connecting with the fans. That is why I would not want anyone else in charge under this particular ownership model. I include Pep Guardiola.
Klopp’s net spend at Anfield is £110million – far less than City, United, Spurs, Arsenal and, even, Everton during the same period.
Since winning the Champions League in 2019, Liverpool have spent £94million to City’s £300million. These numbers are often “balanced” with comments about earlier world-record fees for Van Dijk and Alisson Becker, even though the comparison does not hold, given Liverpool raised funds by selling Philippe Coutinho.
Klopp has been accused of working his squad so hard over the past three years that they have been found out, or even burnt out. If that is the case, there is an obvious solution. Refresh and exhaust a set of new players over the next three years. I imagine United, Arsenal and Everton fans would love a manager who will make his players run harder and get every bead of sweat from them between now and 2024, delivering a Premier League and Champions League in the process.
Liverpool were 10th on the day Klopp was appointed. The evidence is there that he can take a rejuvenated squad from eighth to first before his contract expires.
The accusation that Klopp is one-dimensional does not stand up to scrutiny, either. Liverpool did not win the title without evolving, Klopp creating a side who shifted through the gears, picking their moment to go “full
Reset: Jurgen Klopp will lead the recovery throttle” before reducing the temperature to manage games. Those players most adept at knowing when and how to change the tempo – Van Dijk, Henderson and Fabinho – are those Klopp has most missed this season.
If this reads like heroworshipping, I make no apology. It is no less true. Steven Gerrard, aware of the reports linking him with the Anfield job, summed it up. “The Liverpool fans want Jurgen Klopp to continue for many years. I’m totally with all of them,” he said.
Such comments seem to confuse, or even upset those who consider former players too supportive, or my former club of being too sentimental, and prone to exaggerate a notion of loyalty separating them from most of the other big clubs. Since Shankly, the man in charge at Anfield must demonstrate more than sporting excellence. His values must reflect those who are so emotionally invested in the team’s success. When the trust is there, those bonds have proved to be stronger than at certain other clubs. At Anfield, a manager who delivers will always be king. It needs more than a bad two years, never mind two poor months, to threaten that.
Liverpool fans would never accept their coach being sacked within a season of winning the Premier League and Champions League, as has been the case for several Chelsea managers, Roberto Mancini at City and Claudio Ranieri at Leicester. They would not tolerate their manager leaving within six months of reaching a Champions League final, as happened at Spurs with Mauricio Pochettino. At Chelsea and Spurs, it was calculated that it was cheaper to get rid of the coach than rebuild the team. Culturally, that seems to work at Stamford Bridge. Maybe Spurs fans are still of the opinion Pochettino could take his team no further. I suspect a few wish he had stayed and more players left.
At Anfield, when a manager is as loved as Klopp, the supporters will always call on the board and badly performing players to go first. FSG understands that. That is why, when Klopp plots the route to recovery this summer, the focus will be on them more than him.