Football: Soccer-Klopp to leave Liverpool at end of the season

LONDON (Reuters) -Juergen Klopp stunned the world of football on Friday when he announced he would stand down as Liverpool manager at the end of season, saying that after more than eight hugely successful years in charge he was running out of energy.

The German, who led Liverpool into the final of the League Cup on Wednesday and is hugely popular with the fans, said he told the club’s hierarchy in November that he would end his eight-and-a-half years at Anfield at the end of the current campaign.

Assistant managers Pepijn Lijnders and Peter Krawietz are also leaving the club at the same time, Liverpool said.

“It is that I am, how can I say it, running out of energy,” Klopp, 56, said on Liverpool’s website. “I can understand that it’s a shock for a lot of people in this moment, when you hear it for the first time, but obviously I can explain it – or at least try to explain it.

“I love absolutely everything about this club, I love everything about the city, I love everything about our supporters, I love the team, I love the staff. But that I still take this decision shows you that I am convinced it is the one I have to take.

“I have no problem now, obviously, I knew it already for longer that I will have to announce it at one point, but I am absolutely fine now. I know that I cannot do the job again and again and again and again.”

The German joined Liverpool in October 2015 and has won the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup and Super Cup, as well as the Community Shield during his time in charge.

“In keeping with Juergen’s expressed wishes, we will save the comprehensive tributes for a more appropriate time but nevertheless, we would be remiss if we did not take this opportunity to reaffirm that his appointment remains one of the greatest blessings of our time as owners,” Mike Gordon, Fenway Sports Group president, said.

“The incredible achievements of the intervening years speak for themselves, so too does the joy that Juergen and his team have brought to all of us supporters. His many accomplishments will never be taken for granted.”

In the 2019-20 season, Klopp led Liverpool to their first league title since 1990, and their first of the Premier League era. The previous season, they lifted the Champions League, defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the final.

In the 2021-22 season they won the FA Cup and League Cup and were agonisingly close to a quadruple as they were beaten to the league title by Manchester City on the final day of the season and lost the Champions League final to Real Madrid.

Last season was a relatively poor one, with a fifth-placed finish in the league, but they have roared back to their best this campaign and are currently leading the Premier League standings.

“For me it was super, super, super-important that I can help to bring this team back onto the rails,” Klopp said in relation to last season’s struggles.

“It was all I was thinking about. When I realised pretty early that happened, it’s a really good team with massive potential and a super age group, super characters and all that, then I could start thinking about myself again and that was the outcome. It is not what I want to (do), it is just what I think is 100 per cent right.”

(Reporting by Simon Jennings, Trevor Stynes, Mitch Phillips, Editing by Christian Radnedge)