On Friday came the shock news that Jürgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool. He highlights a lack of energy as an important reason.
– It’s that I – how should I say it? – running out of energy, the German said in a video published on Liverpool’s website earlier Friday.
At the press conference later in the day, Klopp elaborates:
– At this age, we are no longer young rabbits. We don’t jump as high as we used to.
– I have been doing this for 24 years now. With the career I’ve had, it’s almost impossible to start where I started and end up in Liverpool. But if it’s possible, it’s because I’ve put everything I’ve got into it. It was never a problem, then I understood that my resources are not inexhaustible. I preferred to put everything into this season, and then take a break and stop, explains Klopp.
Love for the city
– There were some tears, but that is normal after such a long time together, the German tells of when he told his colleagues about the decision.
Klopp has really made himself popular in the red part of Liverpool, and the love goes both ways.
– I absolutely love everything about this club, I love everything about this city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the support apparatus. I love everything, but the fact that I am still taking this decision shows that I am convinced that it is the right one to take, says Klopp.
Assistants Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz, as well as development coach Vitor Matos, will also leave their positions after the season.
FULL OF EXPECTATIONS: Jürgen Klopp came to Liverpool with high expectations after the success with Borussia Dortmund at home in Germany.
Photo: Reuters
NRK’s football expert Carl-Erik Torp is surprised by Friday’s news, which hit the world of football like a bomb.
– You understand that such a job at that level requires complete dedication and energy, and that it takes a lot to stand up to that pressure. It sounds like at one point or another it is a sensible choice for a person to give themselves time to relax, says Torp.
Won everything with the club
Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers in October 2015 and brought success back to a club that had not won the league for over 25 years when he joined.
On the day he was introduced, he promised fans to turn them from doubters to hopefuls.
He managed that.
Among other things, Liverpool has won both the Premier League (2019/2020) and the Champions League (2018/2019) once under Klopp’s leadership.
In addition, they have won the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Club World Cup, the Community Shield and the UEFA Super Cup once.
– He is certainly one of the greatest in Liverpool’s history. So he has meant a lot to a generation of football supporters in Liverpool who have felt that he has taken the club back to where it belongs. He has stabilized them and really taken them back, says Torp.
STRIKE OF SUCCESS: Jürgen Klopp with his well-known grin when Liverpool could finally celebrate a Premier League gold in 2020.
Photo: AP
Decided in November
The news came as a surprise, as there has been no speculation about the German’s departure recently.
Nevertheless, Klopp is said to have told the club about the decision in November.
Klopp says he came up with the idea when he sat with his team and talked about potential signings and training camp for next summer:
– I’m not sure I’m here anymore then, I thought. I was surprised at myself. I had obviously started thinking about it.
What does this do to Liverpool?
They are weakened They are strengthened It will probably be quite the same
Show result
Although this is likely to be news that will please the rivals’ supporters, Klopp is sure that Liverpool can use this news as a strength.
– The outside world will use this decision to laugh at us and disturb us. But we are Liverpool. Let us be strengthened by it. That would have been really cool. Let’s squeeze everything out this season and have more things to smile about when we look back on it in the future, says Klopp.
Klopp has forged a strong bond with the fans and makes no secret of the fact that it is hard to leave them.
– After these years we’ve had together, the time we’ve spent together and all the things we’ve gone through together, my respect for you has grown. Love increased for you and the least you deserve is the truth – and it is the truth, he says.
Facts about Jurgen Klopp
Expand/minimize fact box
* Born: 16 June 1967 (age 56)
* Place of birth: Stuttgart in Germany
* Playing career: Mainz (1989 – 2001). Klopp was a striker.
* Trener career: Mainz (2001-2008), Borussia Dortmund (2008-2015), Liverpool (2015-2023).
* Achievements: Won one Champions League title (2018/19) and one league championship (2019/20), victory in the UEFA Super Cup (2019) Club World Cup (2019), one League Cup cull (2021/22) and one FA Cup gold (2021) /22) with Liverpool. Twice Bundesliga winner with Dortmund (2010-2011, 2011-12), German Cup winner (2011-12), German Supercup winner (2013, 2014). Voted German manager of the year in 2011 and 2012.
* Current: Resigns as manager of Liverpool after the end of the season. (NTB)
Solbakken: – One of the very largest
– It’s very surprising, he just signed a long contract. The second is that it is a huge loss for Liverpool. He has raised the club and been a pioneering figure, both in the club and in the city.
That’s what national team manager and Liverpool supporter Ståle Solbakken says. Klopp extended until 2026 as late as April 2022.
EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE: – It will be the big news for many months to come, not least with speculation about who will take over, says Solbakken.
Photo: NTB
With many changes in the stable, Solbakken points out that this season is really a new start, where Liverpool have recovered from a disappointing season last year.
– Everything suggests that Liverpool can face a bright future with that squad, but replacing Klopp will be a huge challenge.
Solbakken does not spare the superlatives about the German’s work in Liverpool.
– It is one of the greatest in Liverpool history who is leaving the club. A man who will have his name next to Shankly, Paisley and Dalglish, says the 55-year-old, who does not think Klopp is finished as manager for the foreseeable future.
– He probably needs a little break, but I don’t think he’s had his last coaching job. It is natural to think about the national team job in Germany. Or that he takes one last club job.
– A shock
Several Norwegian football experts have also taken to X to express their surprise at Friday’s news.
– What? It came from nowhere, writes Viasport’s Kasper Wikestad.
– The only word I can think of: Oi! writes Aftenposten writer and former football coach Lars Tjærnås.
NRK’s commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt says the following about the news:
NRK’s football writer Thore Haugstad also did not see this news coming and emphasizes that from the outside there has been no reason for Klopp to give up.
– It is a shock. A hundred percent. Nobody expected it to come now, in the middle of the season. Especially now that things are going as well as Liverpool, says Haugstad.
When asked how highly he rates Klopp as Liverpool manager, Haugstad mentions legendary Liverpool names.
– When you win the first league in 30 years, he is the greatest in recent times if you ignore Shankly and Paisley. It was extremely difficult to take Liverpool back to the top.