Jurgen Klopp's departure is a disaster for Liverpool

The news that the Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is to quit his job at the end of the season is a bombshell. No one expected it, not right now, nor anytime soon. The questions will come thick and fast, with all kinds of daft conspiracy theories about what is really behind his departure not too far behind. Football is like that.

Klopp’s decision to go comes shortly after Liverpool qualified for the final of the Carabao Cup. It is all the more unexpected because he completed a major rebuild of the playing squad last summer (usually something that suggests the coach has the long-term in mind), and Liverpool are currently sitting top of the Premier League, and still in the FA Cup as well as the Europa League. That’s a potential quadruple right there. So, why go now?

It is hard to convey just how much Klopp has achieved

This is the version of events from the man himself. ‘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,’ he said in a statement on the club’s website this morning.

‘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. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take. It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy…I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.’

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So, it’s exhaustion then that’s prompted Klopp’s decision to call it quits. It’s a rare admission from an elite manager, but then Klopp has always spoken his mind. The demands of football management are relentless, and managers are not machines.

Klopp has had the wisdom and self-awareness to pick his moment, for reasons that make sense to him. Few managers get to pick their time of departure: a sacking is usually what brings a manager’s tenure to a close. Only the few giants of the game are in ultimate control of their managerial destiny. Pep Guardiola of Manchester City is arguably the only other elite manager who gets to choose when he leaves his job. His rivalry with Klopp during recent seasons has brought added excitement to football in this country. It is a shame that it is to end sooner than any football fan would have wanted. How long before the great Guardiola calls time at Manchester City?

It is hard to convey just how much Klopp has achieved, on and off the field at Liverpool. He arrived at Anfield in 2015, and in the nine years since, he has taken Liverpool back to where they belong as a domestic and European football force. Most importantly of all, he led the club to the Premier League title in 2020, ending a wait of more than three decades to return to the summit. He also won the Champions League, as well as reaching the final of the competition three times. The trophy haul also includes the FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.

It is a staggering transformation in the club’s fortunes. Liverpool looked lost until he came on to the scene. Klopp might have won even more on the domestic front, if it wasn’t for Manchester City’s impossibly high standards and consistency under Guardiola. The Spaniard has won more than the German but it is Klopp who sets the hearts of football neutrals racing. He has an infectious personality, brimming with enthusiasm and comes across as wearing his heart on his sleeve. His warm embrace of his players, and the ritual chest-pumping in front of the Anfield faithful after yet another victory, speaks of a mutual love and respect that few others in the game command.

Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, put a brave face on the shock news, insisting it will be ‘business as usual’ until the end of the season. They can only hope: a manager announcing his departure mid-season always hits the players in unexpected ways, sometimes leading to a drop in performance levels. Only time will tell. One thing is guaranteed: Klopp is an almost impossible act to follow.