'I'll sleep a bit better': Managers react to Jurgen Klopp's decision to leave Liverpool

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said he will “sleep a bit better” after his “biggest rival” Jurgen Klopp shocked the football world with the announcement of his shock decision to leave Liverpool at the end of this season. The Reds boss has been Guardiola’s main competitor for domestic silverware during their time in England. While Guardiola has largely come out on top in the trophy stakes during City’s era, the Spaniard is well aware of the threat posed by Klopp and his team. Paying tribute to Klopp after City's 1-0 win at Spurs in the FA Cup, Guardiola said: “He’s an absolutely incredible manager, I don’t know him closely but I think he’s an incredible person as well. “I have the feeling that when he leaves at the end of the season, part of us at Manchester City is leaving too. They have been our biggest rival, Liverpool in the last years.” Klopp stated he was leaving Liverpool because he no longer had the energy to manage such a high-profile club after nine years at Anfield. Guardiola, 53, can empathise with the 56-year-old over his decision after he walked out on Barcelona for similar reasons in 2012. “All the managers will (feel tired) when you’ve done many years, I feel it completely. I felt it at Barcelona so I understand it completely,” he said. The last showdown between City and Liverpool in the Premier League will come on 9 March when the Sky Blues visit Anfield. “He’s been my biggest rival so I think he will be missed,” he said. “I am a little bit pleased because without him I will sleep a little bit better the night before we play against Liverpool but I wish him all the best. He doesn’t admit but he will be back.” Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel said, “I just heard the news a couple of minutes ago, it’s really shocking.” Tuchel, who succeeded Klopp at Mainz and later Borussia Dortmund, called the Liverpool boss “one of the very best coaches in the world”. “Wherever he was, he always managed to put a stamp on the clubs that he was with.” Klopp’s former club Dortmund, where he won two Bundesliga league titles and took the club to the 2013 Champions League final, also reacted with surprise. Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, who was responsible for recruiting Klopp, telling SID the timing and manner of the announcement “shows once again that Jurgen is exceptional”. “I have great respect for this decision.” Dortmund manager Edin Terzic, who was an assistant junior coach during Klopp’s tenure and still stays in regular contact with him, said the news “came as a surprise to me”. “Thankfully I know Jurgen pretty well and I know that no matter what decisions he has made in his life so far, he has thought them through very carefully and that is why I am sure that this decision feels like the right one for him. “He is an oustanding person, an incredible coach and I was very lucky to watch him up close and get to know him. “He has shaped our club like no other over the past few years and he did exactly the same at Liverpool.”

This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came.
I just thought it would be another few years away.
What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen! https://t.co/ajw372IEWX

— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) January 26, 2024

“This news was always going to be a body blow to the club whenever it came. I just thought it would be another few years away. What a manager, what a man, let’s go out with a bang Jurgen!” - Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Who can replace Jurgen Klopp? Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso played down speculation he could replace Klopp in the summer, saying: “what comes next, I don’t know”. Alonso, a former Liverpool player whose unbeaten Leverkusen side sit four points clear of Bayern Munich at the top of the Bundesliga table, has been linked to a return to the club where he won the 2005 Champions League as a player. “I’m trying to give my best to help prepare my players to be ready. And that’s my goal, what comes next, I don’t know.” Saying the “speculation is normal”, Alonso told reporters: “At the moment I am really happy here… I’m not thinking about May, I’m thinking about tomorrow’s game.” “Each day is a challenge, each game is a challenge and were are on an intense and beautiful journey here in Leverkusen.” “I am not thinking about the next step,” he said. “I am thinking about where I am right now. I am in a great place and I am enjoying myself. And I think it’s the right place, so that’s all I can say. “What’s going to happen in the future? I don’t know and I don’t really care at the moment.” Alonso praised Klopp on Friday, saying he has “huge respect and great admiration for what Jurgen did for the last nine years in Liverpool - and how he did it.” Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi also refused to be drawn on talk he could succeed Klopp. The Italian has earned plaudits for his impressive work at Brighton, who he led to a first European campaign this term. “My focus is just on the last part of the season,” De Zerbi told reporters on Friday. “We are going to compete and to play a historic part of the season. We compete in the Premier League to reach the same target as last season (qualifying for Europe). “We’re going to play the last 16 in the Europa League and we compete in the FA Cup.” De Zerbi is contracted to Brighton until 2026. The 44-year-old said there was no update on a potential new Brighton contract after revealing last month that he was in discussions with the club. Asked about Klopp’s decision to step down due to the draining demands of the job, De Zerbi admitted it will be a significant loss for the Premier League. “I’m very sad because, if he changes league, changes country, the Premier League loses one of the best coaches in the world,” he said. “I consider Klopp, (Pep) Guardiola, (Carlo) Ancelotti, (Marcelo) Bielsa the best coaches in the world and I’m sad for it. “I can understand it very well. I think our work is the best work you can do but it is very tough. “You need energy. You have to push every day. If you don’t work with the right energy, you lose everything.”