Soccer-Klopp confident successor can hit the ground running with 'Liverpool 2.0'
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football – Europa League – Liverpool Training – AXA Training Centre, Liverpool, Britain – April 17, 2024 Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during training Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Boyers/File photo
(Reuters) – Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is confident that the Premier League club is well set up to continue improving once he has handed over the reins to his successor at the end of the season.
Klopp, who announced in January that he would leave the Merseyside outfit after nine years in charge, is expected to be replaced by Dutchman Arne Slot.
Slot will inherit a team that is already in the early stages of a makeover, with Liverpool having signed Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endo this season.
“Of course, it’s not perfect as if it was we’d have five or six points more and would still be fighting for the league,” Klopp told Sky Sports in an interview published on Sunday.
“But if you rewind to the start of the season, I called it Liverpool 2.0… Liverpool 2.0 doesn’t stop after I leave. It’s just the start of another project with a really good squad.”
The German manager added that he would not have been able to perform his job at 100% had he stayed on for another year.
“I was sure that if I didn’t make that decision now, next year it could have been tricky. The thought of picking yourself up for another pre-season, make big decisions,” Klopp said.
“For that, you really need to be full of energy. Eighty percent is not enough. That’s the truth. It’s too much. It’s a 24/7 job. Yes, there are more important things in life, but if you really care then it’s 24/7.
“I did it for a pretty long time and I knew I couldn’t continue to do it at the standard necessary for a club like Liverpool.”
Liverpool, third in the standings, next host fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur in a league clash later on Sunday.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)