Jurgen Klopp feels Liverpool would be in for a difficult season next season if he stayed (Image: Sky Sports)
Jurgen Klopp is adamant that leaving Anfield this summer is the right decision after nine years as manager.
Jurgen Klopp believes that if he hadn’t decided to resign as manager this summer, Liverpool’s problems over the last six weeks would have happened again the following season.
The Carabao Cup winners find themselves out of contention for the FA Cup and Europa League and are likely to finish the Premier League season in third place, having been in a position where they were fighting on four fronts going into the FA Cup quarterfinal against Manchester United in mid-March.
While some have attempted to attribute the decline in performance to Klopp’s unexpected resignation, the Reds won 10 of the 12 games that followed the shocking announcement in January and drew the other two.
Despite this, Klopp believes that leading the team the following season would have been difficult given his waning stamina.
“People have been saying that I look really tired because the football hasn’t been playing well these past few weeks. Just old, that’s what Klopp said to Sky Sports prior to Sunday’s matchup with Tottenham.
“I aim to give it my all right up until the very end. That was the plan from the beginning. I knew that it might have been difficult the following year if I hadn’t made that choice now. Considering preparing for another preseason, make important choices.
Jurgen Klopp will walk away from Liverpool after almost nine years at the club ( Image: PA)
“You really must have a lot of energy for that. Eighty percent is insufficient. That is the actuality. It’s excessive. The work is done nonstop. Of course there are more important things in life, but if you truly care, you will always care for them.
“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.”
In the upcoming weeks, the Reds will name Feyenoord manager Arne Slot to succeed Klopp, and the German says he would like to attend a game at Anfield again.
“It will be super tough not to be part of it anymore in the way I’m part of it now – because I will stay part of it, I will,” he stated.
“I will come and watch games, and if whoever is the next manager doesn’t like having me in the stands, this time, I couldn’t be bothered.”
