Enduring love for Klopp clear in voices and in tattoos as exit sinks in
“I feel the same way as when Bill Shankly left, I am devastated,” Ken Buckley, a Liverpool season-ticket holder for 50 years, says of Jürgen Klopp’s impending exit. “It is hard to take in, it really is. It is like losing a family member.”
Buckley is in front of a mural depicting Klopp lifting the Champions League, one of seven major honours won under the German. Fans flocked to have their photos taken in front of their hero, wanting to remember the impact he has made at the club. One pilgrim wears a “Thank you Klopp” hoodie, in homage. Where once Steve Gerrard was the face of the club, it is now Klopp who has become symbolic of everything it stands for, which explains the number of limbs exhibiting a tattoo of his face.
Parents were making sure children had their image taken next to the grizzled collage of their hero who has ensured the latest generation have only known success. All ages were doing their bit to show the love felt towards their living legend. Flattened cardboard boxes were not in short supply at Anfield as children displayed makeshift signs of affection adorned with love hearts.
The stalls outside the ground were doing a brisk trade in Klopp merchandise. The mandatory pre-match bellowing of You’ll Never Walk Alone was greeted with outstretched scarves bearing Klopp’s image, while the manager soaked it all in, raising a smile once it concluded – because he will miss the atmosphere as much as the fans will miss him, as the post-match serenading emphasised.
More fans lined the entrance to the players’ car park than usual, awaiting Klopp. Usually the supporters want a glimpse of their heroes on the pitch but those in the scrum know there will be limited chances to show their appreciation of the turnaround that has taken place at Anfield over the past nine years.
When Klopp arrived he wanted to create a bond with the fanbase after a barren time as the trophy cabinet accrued more dust than silverware but those days are behind Liverpool. They still have a chance of winning four competitions with their heavy metal football before Klopp departs for a quieter life. “He said: ‘I want to make believers out of doubters’ and that was the start of his interaction with us,” Buckley says. “You get managers that come in and do a good job, like Pep [Guardiola], but do not have the rapport with the fans that Klopp does. We love him.”
It can be energy-sapping in the stands, let alone patrolling the touchline. Klopp lives every moment on the pitch and was the same against Norwich, willing to question the fourth official whenever he felt a decision did not go Liverpool’s way in a relatively routine FA Cup win against a team in the division below. The Anfield sidelines have seen some of Klopp’s most memorable moments, from sprinting to celebrate crucial goals to pulling his hamstring to remonstrate with the officials but Sunday was calm by his standards.
Supporters love his attitude, feeling the highs and lows like the 54,000 around him. Fans will eke out every moment they can with Klopp because his unique style is unlikely to be replicated by any successor. “I just want to carry on what we are doing, win some trophies,” Buckley says. “If we don’t, it is not for the lack of trying – we have a lot of injuries, people forget that. I understand why he is leaving because of the intensity – and it is not just here, it is at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund where he put in the same energy. His man-management made the fans buy into him. I love him.”
It is more than just success on the pitch that has enamoured Klopp to the fans. After being knocked off their perch by Manchester United, Klopp has put them back among the elite in the Premier League, winning the title for the first time in 30 years in 2019-20 amid the backdrop of a pandemic. “The biggest regret is that I wasn’t here to see him lift the league because we could not come here,” says Buckley. “I’ve been a season-ticket holder for 50 years and that is my biggest regret – not losing finals or anything but to see us lift the trophy in front of a full Anfield after all these years.”
It is one of few regrets of Klopp’s reign, one fans hoped would go on for years to come after the reinvigoration of the team. His exit creates a rare sense of uncertainty after years of stability but Klopp has made the club desirable for players, fans and a plethora of top managers. It is not about how one finds a club, it is the state they leave it and Klopp has formed a juggernaut. He will leave behind a young and vibrant squad, offering the opportunity for someone to build on his success.
“Once he’s gone there will be a statue, they will start working on that now and it should be next to Shankly because that is the level of impact he’s had,” says Buckley. Liverpool believes once more – and that is an incredible legacy.