When the four-minute stoppage time expired and the 304th victory of his term was assured, he stood up and thanked his coaching and support team. Jürgen Klopp hugged his players, high-fived the stewards and photographers, kissed club employees and, at the end, also hugged the referees. He laughed and joked with everyone while the audience at Anfield Road had long since intoned the entire Klopp song.
After eight and a half years, an era that only rarely exists in world football ended with the insignificant Wolverhampton game at Liverpool FC. Klopp won eight titles with the Reds, but above all he breathed life back into the dusty myth of the glorious club and – as pathetic as it sounds – gave the people in the city hope and confidence.
His farewell speech had more of the sermon of a clergyman. Unusual, captivating and infectious. Just as he always managed to inspire and electrify players, employees and fans. “Don’t stop believing in yourself,” he shouted towards the still full stands: “We have this wonderful stadium, the wonderful training center and you, the superpower of world football. We decide whether we are bored or excited. We decide what we believe in and what we don’t, who we trust and who we don’t. And I believe in you. 100 percent.”
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And her to him. Even before Klopp’s 489th game kicked off, there was a lot of love from the fans. They sang about their idol and brought written cardboard with them: “Thank you Jürgen, you made people happy,” for example. Before kick-off, Klopp wandered through the seats in the VIP stand, hugging and shaking hands. Large parts of his family were there, his wife, children and grandchildren. Klopp once again focused on sport. “The 60,000 here in the stadium and a few 100 million watching the television expect this from us.”
Well, actually that day was all about him. When the “You’ll never walk alone” sounded before kick-off, “Thank you Jürgen” was written on the video boards, on the backstretch “Jürgen” was written in letters as high as the stands, and on the Kop, the Liverpool fan stand, in the middle of the four letters was YNWA a heart formed in black, red and gold. German colors at Anfield Road. That only seems conceivable with Jürgen Klopp.
A German heart to say goodbye: Liverpool fans thank Jürgen Klopp
Source: dpa/Peter Byrne
He himself laughed as the song played, pointed to the many banners, nodded. At the end of the song, he put his right hand to his heart and nodded again. Everything seemed to feel good to him, although the pressed lips showed that he was emotionally affected. There were no tears that day, at least in the stadium.
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A speech like a sermon
Shortly after the final whistle of the 2-0 (2-0), Klopp initially disappeared into the catacombs, but paused again on the way to the dressing room when he saw the club owner’s family. Here, too, there were kisses and hugs before he actually disappeared into the cabin at a run.
Ten minutes later he came with the team to say goodbye. He had put on a red hoodie with white writing: “Thank you, Luv,” it read. And on the back: “I’ll never walk alone again” – I will never be alone again.
He handed out almost a dozen of the hoodies to his staff before disappearing again to leave the stage to the players whose time in Liverpool was also ending: Thiago and Joel Matip were the first to walk through the team’s line to the center circle, followed by – individually called and said goodbye – the outgoing coaching team. The last person to come was Jürgen Klopp.
At the end of the line: Captain Virgil van Dijk tries to hold on to his coach Jürgen Klopp
Quelle: Getty Images/Clive Brunskill
He held his heart again, distributed kisses to the audience and accepted gifts from the club that has become his and will probably remain his. The titles he won during his eight and a half years framed as a coat of arms. The trophies are screwed onto wood in a miniature version. He examined the presents like a visitor to an art exhibition.
Finally, he gave a speech in which he thanked the fans for a lot, including for ignoring him and his request not to sing the song about him in the past few weeks. It’s only logical that the audience took the words as motivation to sing it louder and more enthusiastically than perhaps ever before.
“It doesn’t feel like an end, but rather a start. I saw a team full of youth and creativity here today. This is part of a development,” said Klopp, looking ahead. The funereal mood was now completely gone – and he was in his prime role of motivator and encourager; “I have received far too much attention in the past few weeks. The transition is good and if you go in with the right attitude then things will continue well. The basis for this has been laid,” he said consolingly, before suddenly singing “Live is life” by Opus and using the song to greet his successor: “Arne Slot, Nana-nanana.” What a gesture.
There were no tears until the end. Instead, another confession before he went on his last lap of the stadium: “I am now one of you. I love you to the utmost. You are the best in the world. I thank you. Thanks!”
