Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool this summer. Now what?

There's no right way to do something like this. There's no way this will leave fans and players the way Jurgen Klopp wants them to be: happy, hopeful and energized. The Liverpool manager therefore chose the “least bad” route, placing honesty, transparency and, of course, vulnerability at the heart of his message.

News of Jurgen Klopp's decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the 2023-24 season was announced to the players before training on Friday morning; fans and the rest of the world found out shortly after via video message. He informed Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool's owners, last November so they could start thinking about succession. Both must have known that the search for a successor — not a replacement, but a successor, for it would be unfair to set the bar that high — necessarily meant that his imminent departure could only be kept a secret. for a while before having to tell the world and kill any embryonic rumors.

It turned out that the time was right to announce that it was Friday.

“How can I say it, I'm out of energy,” Klopp said. “I obviously have no problem now. …I'm totally fine now. I know I can't do the job over and over again. After the years…we spent together and after all the things we have lived together… the least I owe you is the truth – and it is the truth.

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Ego fuels leaders, even the most discreet ones. The self-confidence and inner strength they convey are essential to getting buy-in from everyone, whether it's billionaire owners, millionaire players in their 20s or fans who pay for everything. For someone to face the fact that they're not superhuman and the battery is starting to die, it shows vulnerability and humanity. And in a macho world where mental health has long been neglected, Klopp's remarks touch on other themes, such as work-life balance and self-care. In that sense, he is as modern and forward-thinking as any footballer.

The TL;DR on Klopp is that he ended a 30-year wait for a league title by winning the Premier League in 2019-20. A three-decade drought during which Manchester United, their rivals less than an hour away, won 13 Premier League titles and, in the words of their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson, “knocked Liverpool off their fucking perch. It was an achievement that came against the backdrop of a dominant and better-resourced Manchester City team, who had won the championship twice immediately before and would win three in a row thereafter. Liverpool's first league title took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that in no way dampened the joy of a fan base who, until then, were catching up on the ghosts of a glorious past in as England's most successful club.

Klopp's outsized personality made him a folk hero, but behind that was a ton of hard work that gave the club a sporting stability and consistency it had lacked for so long. He guided Liverpool to three Champions League finals, winning them all in 2018-19, and finished in the top four for six consecutive seasons, something that hadn't happened since the glory days of Ian Rush, Graeme Souness and “The King”, Kenny. Dalglish, 30 years ago.

But on Friday, Klopp compared himself to a sports car that can still reach 180 miles per hour but whose gas tank is almost empty. Only he can see it, and out of respect for the game, his loved ones, his employers, his players and his supporters, he must stop at the motorway rest area for as long as necessary and obtain a clue. high octane. gas.

Klopp will continue until the end of the season and has done everything possible to reassure his supporters that he will not falter in any way. There's still plenty to play for – Liverpool are top of the Premier League table, they'll face Chelsea at Wembley in the League Cup final, they're still alive in the FA Cup and Europa League – and he says that he has everything it takes to put down the hammer by the end of the campaign.

No one will blame him for his decision to walk away – both from the club and from the final two years of his princely contract – but it is inevitable that Liverpool fans will delve deeper into the angst that comes with the end of an era.

On the seismometer of managerial departures, this is the biggest since Ferguson left Manchester United in 2013, with a few key differences. Sir Alex was 72 at the time (Klopp is 56); his retirement had been telegraphed for some time; this was officially announced in May, after United were crowned league champions; and his hand-picked successor, David Moyes, was confirmed the following day.

Comparatively, this is a bolt from the blue in Liverpool's red, but to be honest the end of that era is a process that, to be fair, had already begun.

The group that made history under Klopp had already started to fall apart. The front office architects responsible for assembling the team — athletic director Michael Edwards and his successor, Julian Ward — are gone. The same goes for loyal players Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mané, Fabinho, Roberto Firmino, James Milner and Jordan Henderson.

There are some decisions to be made regarding two other stalwarts whose contracts expire at the end of next season: 32-year-old Virgil van Dijk (who has been one of the best defenders in the game since arriving at Anfield in 2018) and 31 years. Mohamed Salah, the one-year-old world striker. And all this against the backdrop of an ownership situation that seems far from solid.

John W. Henry and Tom Werner, the men who founded Fenway Sports Group, are 74 and 73 years old, respectively. A little over a year ago, they hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to find outside investors. They have since stated that they are fully committed to the club and have no intention of selling, but in the cynical world of sports business, once you say you would consider selling would- what a part, you can't really put the toothpaste back in the club. a tube.

Change is inevitable in sport. Players are getting older, managers are leaving and soon, so is the manager who built the latest iteration of a great Liverpool team.

Change is also scary. Given Klopp's personality and his relationship with players and fans, there is little risk of him becoming a lame duck. But they will need to find a new manager and find a way to do it without destabilizing the rest of a campaign in which everything is still on the line.

Is it possible that they have already found their new boss and this is being kept a secret out of respect for his current club? And maybe the reason Klopp made this announcement now is because they are about to announce his successor? And could it be the former Liverpool midfielder, Xabi Alonso, who is tearing up in the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and who, as everyone knows, will not join Real Madrid this summer since Carlo Ancelotti signed a new CONTRACT ?

Maybe. (For what it's worth, Xabi Alonso, speaking hours after Klopp's announcement, said that right now he was happy where he was and wasn't thinking about the future.) But in the modern game, it would be almost unprecedented for a club of Liverpool's stature to move forward quietly.

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Jurgen Klopp reveals why he is leaving Liverpool

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has announced he will leave the club at the end of the season after nine years at Anfield.

In any case, these are the kind of rumors and rumors that will accompany the club over the coming months, and trigger the next wave of angst. Forward-thinking clubs like to plan – Liverpool have always done so under Klopp – but you cannot effectively plan what you will do this summer when it comes to things such as which players to sign and contract extensions. grant, when we do not know who will lead the team.

While the club has stocked up on talent in recent transfer windows – Darwin Núñez, Dominik Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Díaz, Cody Gakpo – and talented youngsters (Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah) Big decisions await us, starting with Van Dijk and Salah and moving on to potential new signings and departures.

The last member of the group that made Liverpool great again is set to leave. We hope that he and Liverpool fans can put fear of the future aside and focus on making his final months at Anfield as successful and exciting as possible. Because, as Eckhart Tolle writes in “The Power of Now,” you cannot control the past or the future. You can only control the present.

The gift is Klopp, and that's a good thing. Enjoy it.