Jurgen Klopp received his official send-off from Liverpool FC last night with a special event that provided the German to tell us all what he really thinks. Among the targets in his crosshairs were Chelsea’s ownership group, specifically for their sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, which we’ll focus on here.
Klopp also slammed Man United, along with their manager Erik ten Hag, for how they have handled the Jadon Sancho saga.
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
The German also joked about Man City, their egregious spending and the charges of financial malfeasance that they currently face.
But now let’s focus on the he aimed at Southwest London, because it was anything but subtle.
“We should be really happy that we have these owners and not guys who bought London clubs and other stuff,” the now former Reds boss said at An Evening with Jurgen Klopp.
“I wouldn’t have survived a year at Liverpool [with them in charge]. ‘Great development but not good enough, sack him!’ A year later: ‘Sack him.’ Then finally they play football where people think they might be back and they sack the manager anyway.
Pochettino took a side that finished 12th last season in the Premier League, and guided them to a sixth place finish this season. For his efforts, he earned Chelsea a berth in UEFA Europa Conference League while leading the Pensioners to the EFL Cup Final and FA Cup semifinals.
It is not a hot take to say that Pochettino got a raw deal.
Klopp also slammed the London club’s revolving door at manager:
“People always think the grass is greener, but we have owners who really feel responsible for the club and work really hard as well to be successful.
“I felt supported. We did it as good as we could have done and I’m fine with it.”
Enzo Moresca will become the fifth manager since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took control of the club in May of 2022. The list includes Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter, Frank Lampard (interim basis) and Mauricio Pochettino.
And about that dig at Man City, Klopp did his usual routine about how Liverpool just doesn’t spend money like water on players, a la Pep Guardiola’s club, or Paris Saint-Germain.
“Can you imagine LFC as the club with unlimited money?” Klopp said.
“Imagine Kylian Mbappé came here. Imagine Bellingham came here, Haaland. It is not us, it just does not fit.
“We won what we won and we did it the Liverpool way. We had hard conversations, and other clubs didn’t do that in the same time.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to Ravens Wire, part of the USA Today SMG’s NFL Wire Network and the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter.