ROG ON KLOPP LEAVING LIVERPOOL ✍️ ❝The news is overwhelming. Partly because there were no hints of the manager standing down early. Two years remain on his contract, and the announcement totally blindsided us amidst the ambitious wonder of a quadruple chase, arriving after neither rumor nor leak. Secondly, Jürgen Klopp was more than a football manager, he was a leader, a transformational change agent, and a deep empath in a chaotic world where that has become all too rare a currency. What he has achieved at Anfield since arriving like a Teutonic Care Bear in 2015 has been nothing short of alchemy. Back then, Liverpool was a club reeking of tradition, aspiration and haunted nearlies. Klopp transformed it with his singular brand of passion, faith, and bombast, unleashing that audacious, demanding collective pressing game which soon overwhelmed all-comers. Klopp’s Liverpool took the field with power, determination and exuberance—as if driven by their fans' very passion—as the manager demanded his players "must fight with the last drop of fuel in their machine,' and then rewarded them with a big, big hug. To watch Liverpool was to feel alive. Champions League triumph in 2019 was followed by long-yearned-for Premier League glory in 2020. I know I am an Everton fan and meant to despise everything in red, but the small percentage of me that is still human could only marvel at the joy Liverpool fans were experiencing along the way, and the memories they made as they "conquered all of Europe." I was reminded of this on Wednesday night, when the Reds reached another Wembley final and their traveling fans raised a banner proclaiming, "Imagine Being Us." I stared at that statement for longer than I care to admit, before realizing that I honestly can't. That it does seem like under Klopp, Liverpool fans have journeyed to so many places both real and emotional, witnessed so many magical moments, and had so much bloody fun. Whatever you want to call the footballing style, "Gegenpressing," "Heavy Metal Football," or "Mentality Monsters," it has been humanly transcendent to watch Klopp forge that connective trinity: the unity built between team, fans, and himself on the sideline with his fist-bumps and ecstatic body jerks, always conducting the emotion. Ultimately, The Hug was Klopp’s most most powerful tactic of all—and I hope one day, there is a statue of him delivering one outside of Anfield, like a giant German Elmo that fans can just slip into and take a selfie. Indeed, as someone who has been on the receiving end of a Klopp hug, I can confirm they are better than any drug Aaron Rodgers has dabbled in. The Klopp hug communicates belief, gratitude, and infinite love. Life Affirmation without words. A reflection of the truth of the man who has delivered it What now? Klopp said this morning he hopes this news will be the ultimate motivator for his players. "Let's now really go for it. The outside world wants to use this decision, laugh about it, wants to disturb us. We are Liverpool, we went through harder things together. And you went through harder things before me. Let's make a strength of it. Let's squeeze everything out of this season and have another thing to smile about when we look back in the future." It is unknown if he will manage again. He said this morning, "If you ask me, 'Will you ever work as a manager again?' I would say now no. But I don't know obviously how that will feel because I never had the situation. What I know definitely—I will never, ever manage a different club in England than Liverpool." For their part, the club have said, even though they found out in November, they are yet to approach a replacement. While I hope they will give Roy Hodgson (my favorite ever Liverpool manager) an emotional return, or throw the bank to tempt that tactical maestro Stevie Gerrard back from Al-Ettifaq, expect former midfielder Xabi Alonso, who has propelled Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga, to be the subject of tabloid conjecture, and Liverpool fans' fever dreams. A quick word to Liverpool fans reading this: I send you my love today. I can't even imagine the feeling of hope and happiness and glory this man has brought into your life, now singed by that sudden shocking sting of loss. Take strength from the memories you have made together though, because it has been a marvel to watch this bloke—a culture builder, a serial transformationist, a deeply authentic, empathetic human—do his thing. If anything, this announcement is a reminder that nothing is forever, and that we should not take a moment for granted. It is also fascinating that while every Liverpool fan I know has been agonizing about Mo Salah and his future—it is Jürgen that is the first to step off citing exhaustion. A reminder that the caregivers often pass on first, and a brutal truth that Rory Smith talked to me about when I saw him in December—it does not look that fun to be a Premier League Manager. It is a brutal job, lived out in the bright-lights of a global crucible with hysterical stakes, knee-jerk overreaction, and trial by tabloid, that grinds down all those that do it. I actually love that Klopp will sign off in a style befitting his unique personality, on his own terms, departing after a quadruple chasing-high. There will be more, much more to come on this story. Liverpool’s innocuous Fourth Round FA Cup clash against Norwich City on Sunday morning now becomes must-watch theater for the emotional outpouring that will begin—setting the tone for the rest of a season that is going to feel like equal parts Crusade and McNulty’s Wake Scene from the Wire. Jürgen Klopp deserves that. Not just for the footballing memories he has given us, but the life truths he has dispensed along the way. I have interviewed him many times over the years, and honestly, learned so much about life from each conversation. I want to leave you one conversation I went back to this morning in the immediate wake of hearing the news. On the eve of lifting the coveted first title for Liverpool, I met with Klopp in his office, and asked him, a deeply religious man, if winning is, indeed, the most important thing. Jürgen did not have to wait a beat before telling me, "If life should be judged at the end, when we stand in front of the (heavenly) door, they ask, 'Did you win something or not?' That would be really strange. They should ask, 'Did you try everything to improve the place you have been, the house you have lived in, the mood, the love?' And I will say, 'Yes, I tried it everyday.'" YNWA ❤️