Jürgen Klopp attended a press conference this Friday where explained his decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. “With all the responsibility that this role brings, you always need to be at the top. I’ve been doing this for 24 years and I’ve said it before, when you have the career I have… I realized that my resources are not endless and I preferred to give everything this season and then take a break or stop. We are no longer young, we no longer jump as high as we used to. It is what it is”, the German coach began by explaining. He added: “It wasn’t something I thought about on purpose, but when I started to really think about things… I can’t be at a top level anymore and I need to tell people that. And that’s what I conveyed to the club. I think that everyone believes in me, because I really love the club. I am convinced that it is the right decision”.
How it feels? “It was a relief to have made this decision. I didn’t know I was going to feel this way, but it ended up happening. It’s a mix of emotions. Today I spoke to the players and that was one of the important things I had to do. I don’t know what the fans think of the decision, but the players’ reaction was very good. I’m here at 100% and today I answer any questions you want, I’m very focused on the rest of the season. It’s the right thing to do and I think it was at the right time, the club needs time to resolve the future while we are living in the present.”
What message did you leave to the players? “The players didn’t ask many questions. I spoke to everyone and then I spoke to some in private. We have a very strong relationship. We are professionals. The boys see things as they are. They were very good in training, excited. They didn’t throw a party when I told you this, of course.”
Will you give advice to management regarding your successor? “In football, we have some guys who do an incredible job that people don’t see as much. It looks like I do all the work, but I don’t. What we’ve built over the last eight and a half years is a very strong structure behind the scenes so that everything go in the right direction. And that’s one of the reasons why I can leave. The last thing the club needs is an ‘old man’ walking away and saying ‘they need this one and this one’. I wish the best for this club.” .
Tiredness… “I love this team, the way we react to different moments. But the planning… You may think that the transfer market is just the transfer market, but it’s the moment when we can finally finalize things. The pre-season It’s very important, and I’ve done it so many times… I’ve had six press conferences a week for so many years. I have no problem with you, but I can’t wait for the moment when I can stop doing it. Coaching a team like Liverpool is so important to so many people. It’s energy, emotion, relationships. These are things that require total dedication. With all the good things and with all the bad things, that’s how I am. If you can’t do it anymore, you have to stop. Don’t I said after a year, two, three, four or five. I was fully confident that I would be able to continue until 2026…”.
Do you leave with any regrets? “I can’t think about it right now, I can’t remember certain things. In my world, the best memories are yet to come. There were so many moments that I would probably end up mentioning the wrong one. So far, I have no regrets. I have a lot of special memories. If you blame anyone for us not winning the Champions League more often, or for not winning other things, blame me. I am responsible. I never wanted to live my life so much, I never thought about it. I always thought everything was fine, but now It’s not there anymore. What will happen in the future? I don’t know. But I won’t coach clubs or national teams next year, I’ll never coach an English team again – and I can promise that.”
Alex Ferguson even announced that he would leave Manchester United at the end of a season and then reversed his decision. Can it happen in this case? “No, no. I didn’t know that had happened to him. I respect Alex Ferguson a lot and I don’t know what happened on that occasion, but I thought about it a lot. At a certain point I needed to make a decision. If we win or don’t win titles? It won’t change anything.”
Message to fans: “I hope you accept my decision. I can’t thank you now, these are things that will happen eventually. I hope you don’t get me wrong, we need all the support for the remaining games.”
Is there anything in particular you want to do after leaving Liverpool? “No, I don’t know how to have a normal life. I need to figure out how to do that.”