It was a beautiful July day.
The sun was shining in Liverpool and people were enjoying the summer in the port city.
The year was 1974, and then there was no internet, social media or even a 24-hour news channel.
Information traveled much more slowly.
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The red side of the city is still describing the pain Liverpool manager Bill Shankly caused by announcing his resignation.
No one could have expected that. The city was not prepared for the shock.
People were crying in the streets.
50 years later, many things are different. Even though the information about Jürgen Klopp’s decision spread around the globe in a fraction of a second, its impact is not any less mild.
Shankly is the creator of Liverpool’s greatness.
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Bill Shankly (R) won the Charity Shield for Liverpool in his last game in 1974. PDO
After the spring of 1990, the club fell into a 30-year slump, from which only Klopp woke it up about 30 years later.
– I want to turn doubters into believersthe German said in his first press conference as Liverpool manager.
When the temple of the faithful has finally emerged from the Anfield Road stadium, the Manager’s coat is getting empty.
Still, no one would want to give up their prophet.
– I can say with certainty that I will never coach another club in England. It is not possible to. I can’t even for a second think like that, Klopp tried to console.
– Liverpool is an important part of my life. We are part of this family and we feel at home.
Klopp had a strong relationship with Liverpool fans. PDO
Still, no one doubts that the German manager would return to football in some role. Surely he’ll take a little recharge break and carefully consider the next transfer: the German national team, the English national team – or even Bayern Munich.
Klopp’s list of merits is so long that he doesn’t need to send out his resumes hoping to be invited to an interview.
With the other party to the divorce, one cannot be as certain. After Shankly, the next three managers won league titles.
After them, the balance of the next eight shows zero.
– It’s a really good appointment. I admire him, Sir Alex Ferguson commented in October 2015, when Liverpool had hired Klopp to replace Brendan Rodgers.
Liverpool was then tenth in the league. In the previous eight years, it had won only one league cup (2012).
– He has a strong personality, he is stubborn, determined and his career in Dortmund was on the rise. I wouldn’t want to say that because I’m afraid he’ll be successful at Liverpool,” the Scottish manager continued.
Ferguson had left his own wash at Manchester United a couple of years earlier. 2015 could not be guessed yet, how small a club giant crumbles when its successful manager leaves coaching.
United are now eighth in the league. It’s the 11th season after Ferguson’s departure, and the only thing that’s certain is that it won’t end in a championship celebration either.
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Klopp’s biggest victory came in the Champions League final in Madrid in the summer of 2019. PDO
When Klopp took over at Liverpool in October 2015, he brought the team together and gave the backroom a voice.
They all had to say their name and how they help the team. Klopp wanted the players to see that everyone has responsibility for their neighbor as well.
They had to learn the name of everyone who worked at the training center.
It was a concrete gesture to build team spirit.
Five years later, the Premier League title was celebrated at Anfield Road.
On Friday, the streets of Liverpool were crying again.
– I’m smart enough to understand that really anything is more important than football – but not in the next 90 minutes, Klopp once described his philosophy.
On Friday, the fans will have to believe it, too. Someone else is now more important to Klopp.
His own coping skills.
Pool is now at a big watershed: the contracts of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah expire after next season. The signing of the extension papers should take place next summer at the latest.
The next manager should be known before then.
Roberto De Zerbi, Xabi Alonso and Julian Nagelsmann lead the race at this point. José Mourinho and Steven Gerrard seem like a draw, but you can’t be so sure about Diego Simeone or Zinedine Zidane.
Whatever the choice, nothing guarantees its success.
Today, Xabi Alonso (center), who coaches Bayer Leverkusen, is the bettors’ favorite to become the new Pool manager. PDO