Jurgen Klopp’s farewell with Liverpool: City, its owners, talk to Slot and his future

Jurgen Klopp could not hold back his tears.

After a montage of highlights from his Liverpool era was shown on the big screen inside the city’s M&S Bank Arena, it was serenaded for almost two minutes by a crowd of 10,000 who sang: “I’m so happy because Jurgen is a great player.” “Red.” He puffed out his cheeks and wiped his eyes, getting to his feet before pumping his usual fist one last time.

It was the final date on Klopp’s farewell tour and his adoring fans were impressed.

It started with a video message from James Bond actor Daniel Craig: “In the few precious moments I spent with you, I said, hand on my heart, I would follow this man anywhere. Thank you for what you have achieved at Liverpool Football Club. It has been a wonderful journey. Your ability to transcend revolutions and get to the heart of what really matters has inspired me and millions of people around the world. Wherever you go and whatever you do, I wish you and your family only happiness.

There was music by singer Alfie Bo and Liverpool bands Lightning Seeds and Zutons, but the main event was a Q&A with Klopp hosted by comedian John Bishop and LFCTV presenter Peter McDowell.

Klopp looked flushed a week later in Mallorca after his farewell at Anfield, and did not hold back after being asked about Manchester City’s 115 Premier League accusations of breaching financial rules and whether he felt he had enough support from Fenway Sports Group, which owns Liverpool. There was criticism at Chelsea’s owners following their decision to sack Mauricio Pochettino, and it was also revealed that he had had “good conversations” with his successor Arne Slott. Here’s the best part.

On Manchester City….

Klopp: “I was told what we are not talking about, it was on the list! TNT (Sports), there is no discussion about kick-off at 12.30pm, and we are not talking about referees. We are not talking about Manchester City or finances, no “I know why? VAR, we don’t talk about that.”

It was Bishop who raised the issue of Manchester City and the accusations they face, referring to Pep Guardiola’s victory over Liverpool, led by Klopp, and winning the title by one point in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons. The comedian asked his fans on Instagram what they wanted him to ask the outgoing manager.

“It happened over and over again,” Bishop said. “You leave this club having won the Premier League once. There could be a court decision that means you have won the Premier League three times…”

Klopp: “If you organize a show by bus, I’m there! How long it takes I don’t care!”

“You may remember the game we played against Manchester City where the ball was pretty much in before John Stones cleared it (off the goal line in the 2-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium in January 2019). City then beat Burnley with the ball over the goal line by the same distance. “Can you be more unlucky? It’s just a fact. It doesn’t mean I wake up at night and think: ‘Oh my God, 11 inches!’ Come on! But I’m still a happy man. If you come here tonight and say goodbye, would your mood be different if you won the league three times? The relationships we’ve built are independent of trophies. It’s built on trust, teamwork and the things we’ve been through together.

About FSG and whether he feels the owner has supported him financially enough…..

Klopp: “I don’t understand it. It’s the world we live in. Can anyone imagine that Liverpool is a club that has endless money? Kylian Mbappé comes here. Jude Bellingham comes here. Erling Haaland comes here. Not us. Maybe For people to judge me because of the finals I lost, it’s okay. I couldn’t care less. We won what we won and we did it the Liverpool way. That’s how I see it. We had difficult conversations and other clubs didn’t do what we did at the same time We built two new stands and a new state-of-the-art training ground. We bought back Melwood (for the women’s team) – the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard was that we sold it in the first place.

“Owners do what owners do. Surprise! Owners want to make money. We’re sorry to tell you that. It’s not like they make money on a daily basis: they invest in something, and that’s how the whole world works. We should be really happy to have these owners and not people who bought clubs.” London. Imagine that! I wouldn’t have been able to survive a year at Liverpool (with them). After a year, they finally play football and everyone thinks: ‘Oh, maybe they’ll come back’ – and then they sack the coach anyway. Status.

“Elsewhere, the grass is always greener. We have owners who feel responsible for the club. Are they the best in the world? I can’t say I don’t know the others, but they also worked hard to ensure our success. I felt supported. If others thought that if I had… More support we would have won more, I have no idea we did it the best we could and I’m fine with it.

“A lot of times we picked the right transfers. I can’t remember a player where I thought, ‘Wow, if I’d known I wouldn’t have signed him.’ They’re young and they’re under pressure. Sometimes they cost a lot of money. If the whole world loses confidence in Player, it should be the manager who still stands behind the player because I can’t buy into ‘he’s useless’ like other clubs have done, by the way, buy a player for £80m and then send him on loan! Your thoughts from the rest of the world.

On the contact he made with Arne Slot…

Klopp: “I spoke to him.”

Bishop: “How did it go?”

Klopp: “S***! No, he’s a good guy and he had a really good talk. I’ve spoken to pretty much everyone in the new leadership team. He’s a really good manager.

“Arnie or someone has my number and they can always call me, but I don’t think it’s necessary.

“Now there will be changes. Maybe different people in charge of different things is the right way. It’s not that I wanted to do it that way (I take a lot of responsibility). I’ve just evolved in that direction with a lot ending up on my desk.”

Klopp said he spoke to Arne Slott (Maurice van Steen/ANP/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’ve created a good foundation for the next manager so the club can move forward from there. It’s really important what you leave behind. The team is good. There will be some changes and youngsters coming in, so I don’t have to worry about the club. I want to look at Liverpool and think: ‘Wow, they’ve They won again, great.”

Regarding his decision to resign…

Klopp: “A lot of people don’t believe me when I say I’m running out of energy. It’s not that I can’t get up in the morning. Being a Liverpool manager, you can’t do it 90%. You have to be on top of your game and I’m not like that anymore. I can’t be Here as a passenger.

“Announcing it early (in January) was important. Imagine we played against Wolves (on the final day), and families were walking around and then I said: ‘By the way, I’m out.’ It doesn’t work. The club is going to have problems. When you’re in charge of a club Like this, you have to make reasonable decisions and that’s what I did. It was definitely right and the timing we couldn’t change. It was a good season. It’s the foundation. The new coach really helped us by not winning everything so he could Improve things.

On his relationship with Liverpool…

Klopp: “The manager is usually sacked at the end of his tenure, but if the coach leaves like I did, it’s different. What I did here tonight would not have been done by any other club in the world. If another club had done it nine days after the last player left The club would have been empty. I heard I was the third Scouser to sell this place, Paul McCartney, Jimmy Webster, and now me.

“I don’t think the human race was created to receive the same amount of attention I’ve had over the past few weeks. I wasn’t prepared to receive this much love. It’s really hard. I’ve known myself for the longest time, almost 57 years. How can you To imagine that something like that would happen? If my best friend was in the same situation, I would be sitting there and thinking, ‘He’s probably a decent person. But unfortunately, you’re talking about me and I can’t understand it.’ Or another.

“The decision to come to Liverpool, along with marrying Ola, was the best decision of my life. It was unbelievable. I came here when I was almost 50. I had enough friends, but I made friends for life. If it were easy to leave “What does that say about our time together? It’s really hard to leave, and that’s how it should be. Let’s not be sad that it’s over, but be happy that it happened.”

Biggest regret?

Klopp: “To become the Premier League champion without having this offer (due to the pandemic).” silly. It somehow suits Liverpool quite a bit during the *** period.

In the future…..

Klopp: “At the moment, I would say I won’t be able to coach again, but what do I know? I had a four-month break once, and then the lovely Liverpool FC girl came along. I’ll be 57 soon and I don’t want to sit around and try to learn the game.” Just golf. I’ll come back here to watch the matches, no doubt about that.

Klopp said he would return to Liverpool to watch the matches (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“I heard that Pep Guardiola might step down next year. Carlo Ancelotti won’t do that for the next 10 years. The next world-class coaches are already there, so give them a chance.

All proceeds from the event went to the Liverpool Foundation, the club’s charitable foundation. Klopp will continue as ambassador. The night ended with his friend Campino, lead singer of the German rock band Die Toten Hosen, leading the final rendition of Club’s song on stage.

“Music, football and life. Thank you very much. I don’t have anything else to say. If you want to sing a song, just do it,” he added.

(Top image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)