A Night of Laughter and Reflections
Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s outgoing manager, used his farewell appearance to take light-hearted jabs at Premier League rivals Manchester City, Manchester United, and Chelsea. The 56-year-old manager attended a question and answer session at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, where comedian John Bishop compered the event for a sold-out crowd of 10,000.
Topics Off-Limits
Klopp revealed he had been provided with a list of topics deemed off-limits, including discussions about broadcaster TNT, referees, Manchester City, financial issues, and VAR. However, when Bishop asked about Liverpool potentially being awarded two more Premier League titles if Manchester City were stripped of their honors due to financial irregularities, Klopp quipped, “If you organize a bus parade I’m in. How long it takes, I don’t care how long.”
Support from Fenway Sports Group
When asked about the support from Liverpool’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, Klopp responded candidly. “The owners do what owners do,” he stated. “Surprise! The owners want to earn money. Sorry to tell you that. It’s not like they earn money on a daily basis: they invest something and that’s how the whole world goes. We should be really happy we have them and not guys who bought London clubs. I wouldn’t have survived a year at Liverpool (with them). Finally they (Chelsea) play football which everyone thinks ‘Oh, they might be back’ and then they sack the manager anyway.”
Man-Management Philosophy
Klopp elaborated on his renowned man-management style. “If the whole world loses trust and faith in the player, the manager has to be the one behind the player,” he explained. “I cannot just buy into that ‘he’s useless’, like other clubs did by the way – buying a player for £80million (referring to Manchester United’s purchase of Jadon Sancho) and then sending him out on loan!”
Transition to Arne Slot
Arne Slot, the Feyenoord coach, is set to officially take over on Saturday. Klopp mentioned that he had spoken to Slot and his backroom team, although he doubted Slot would need further advice. “It was a really good talk. I spoke to pretty much everybody of the new leadership team. He’s a really good manager. Arne has my number and he can call me – I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “There’s a really good base for the next manager. We helped the new manager already by not winning everything. Can you imagine if we’d won the quadruple this year? ‘Great’.”
Emotional Farewell
Klopp managed to keep his emotions in check when saying goodbye to Anfield after the final match of the season against Wolves. However, he was moved to tears when the arena stood to chant “I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red” (sung to the tune of The Beatles’ ‘I Feel Fine’) before he said goodbye one last time.
He will continue to serve as an ambassador for the LFC Foundation, with proceeds from the evening supporting the club’s charity to benefit its own projects and those in the wider community.
