Just a few months before Jurgen Klopp took over at Anfield, in the summer of 2015, Adam Bogdan joined Liverpool. The Hungarian goalkeeper witnessed both the cunning and the sympathetic sides of the German
Adam Bogdan during his four-year spell at Liverpool (Image: Getty)
Adam Bogdan remembers that Jurgen Klopp made a “class” gesture that lessened the blow of dropping to third choice goalkeeper.
Shortly before Klopp took over at Anfield in 2015, the Hungarian moved from Bolton Wanderers to join Liverpool. Bogdan had a fantastic game before the German came in, saving three penalties in a Carabao Cup shootout victory over Carlisle.
It was disappointing to see Klopp fall down the keepers’ pecking order after his appointment. Bogdan, however, has no ill will toward Klopp and remembers with fondness a thoughtful gesture that he will never forget.
A few months after Klopp’s arrival, in January 2016, Danny Ward returned to the team, Bogdan exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone (via The Mirror). Since I wasn’t doing well, I didn’t have any complaints about that choice.
“It was not a pleasant way to learn about that decision, though, and that, along with the knowledge that I wasn’t performing to my full potential, made me feel a lot of emotion.
You start blaming yourself and become depressed, and at elite teams like Liverpool, you simply cannot afford to act in that way. All Jurgen Klopp did manage to do was to bench me for the Carabao Cup final.
“I will never forget the touch he gave me when he put me back on the bench, even though I was third choice at the time. Even if I ignore everything that transpired with Danny returning to the club or whatever he thought of me, that was a class act from him. He brought me back into the team at Wembley after realizing how important I was to that cup run.”
The Reds eventually lost to Manchester City in a penalty shootout in the 2016 Carabao Cup final. The 36-year-old Bogdan played on loans at Wigan and Hibs before moving permanently to the latter in 2019.
