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At the end of the season it's over: Jürgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool FC after nine years
Photo: Phil Noble / REUTERS
It has been clear since Friday: Jürgen Klopp will leave Liverpool FC as team manager at the end of the season. Reds fans celebrated their coach at the FA Cup game against second division side Norwich City. In front of the stadium, supporters could buy T-shirts with the inscription “Thanks, Boss,” and food stalls sold “Klopp Dogs.” The game ended with a clear 5-2 win for Liverpool, four titles are still possible for the Reds.
Emotional moment in “You’ll never walk alone”
When Klopp entered the stadium, he first high-fived the children in the players' tunnel before he and the team were greeted with loud applause by the fans. Numerous banners paid homage to his achievements as a coach. When the Reds fans sang the football anthem "You'll never walk alone" shortly before kick-off, Klopp looked reverently at the ground.
In terms of football, the roles were clearly assigned from the start: While Liverpool leads the Premier League table, Norwich is in ninth place in the Championship, the second English league. Accordingly, Liverpool approached the game dominantly. Liverpool's Curtis Jones scored the first goal with a header after a soulful cross from the halffield (16'), but out of nowhere Norwich equalized a short time later with a header from a corner (22') through Gibson.
Whenever Liverpool pushed the tempo, Norwich was overwhelmed. After a fine combination, Núñez skilfully finished with a low shot from the penalty area to make it 2-1 (28th). With this result, we went into the break.
The second half started turbulently. Thanks to a phase of pressure from Liverpool, Diogo Jota and Virgil Van Dijk increased it to 4-1 (53rd, 63rd), Borja Sainz scored another goal for the visitors from Norwich (69th), before Ryan Gravenberch made it 5-2 for the Reds. Final score marked.
Klopp announced his departure on Friday. »I'm running out of energy. I've known for a while that I would have to announce it at some point. I know I can't do the job over and over again," said the 56-year-old in a video published by the traditional English club.
Klopp plans to take at least a year off
The former Bundesliga coach had recently been repeatedly referred to as a national coach. When signing Julian Nagelsmann, who will look after the national team at the home European Championships, Klopp said again in September that he was currently not available for the position at the German Football Association. Now he said he will take a complete break for at least a year. He no longer wants to coach an English club in his entire career.
Klopp won the Champions League with Liverpool FC in 2019 and the English championship again in 2020 after a long break. The season ends for the club at the end of May. In addition to the Premier League, Liverpool also competes in the League Cup, the FA Cup and the Europa League. It was only in April 2022 that the 56-year-old extended his contract early until 2026.
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