Photo courtesy of UEFA via Getty Images, 2019
It is with surprise that the world of football woke up on January 26th when Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool’s coach for the past nine years, announced that he will leave the club at the end of the season. The German coach, in collaboration with his club, announced his future departure through a video posted on social media. He stated that the main reason for his departure is because he is tired and needs time off coaching.
During his nine years as coach, Jurgen Klopp gave Liverpool one Premier League title, one Champions League title, one FIFA Club World Cup title, one UEFA Super Cup title, one FA Cup title, one English League Cup title and the Community Shield title, adding up to a total of seven trophies. As of now, Liverpool is first in the Premier League and playing in the Europa League. Klopp is having an amazing finale season as his team is five points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League table coming in first place.
A great rivalry in the coaching world will be missed following Klopp’s departure. Both coaches played against each other a total of 15 times in the Premier League where they tied six times.Guardiola won five and Klopp four. Liverpool could end this rivalry by giving Klopp a second Premier League title as a farewell before he leaves the club.
Before joining Liverpool, Klopp trained the German team Dortmund where he also racked up multiple wins. As of now, he is supposed to get some rest from coaching, but some journalists and fans are already expecting a comeback, this time in Spain with Barcelona. In fact, with Xavi’s terrible season in charge of the Barcelona Blaugranas, his contract might end with the season in May. Klopp is seen as a perfect coach, with experience and a great style of play to possibly take on the challenge of improving the Barcelona team. These are still assumptions and probably dreams. All we know is that he will never coach any other British team. Considering everything Liverpool gave him over the past nine years, a great love story is coming to an end.
Who could possibly take on after Klopp? Some names have been cited such as Xabi Alonson who is currently coaching Bayern Leverkusen, a German team that is first in the Bundesliga (German League). He once was a Liverpool legend and started coaching after his retirement from the British club. He seems to be the favorite for the fans, as they know him really well. As of now, Klopp can still have a legendary ending by winning the Premier League and why not the Europa League, which would propel Liverpool to the Champions League next season.
Sophomore Agathe Vanmassenhove is the Sports Editor. Her email is avanmass@fandm.edu.
[…] Read original article here […]