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Jurgen Klopp's Final Liverpool Press Conference (Image: Getty)
It started with a quote. When Liverpool unveiled Jurgen Klopp as their new manager in October 2015, a reporter reminded him how Jose Mourinho styled himself as “the special one” on his arrival at Chelsea.
Given his own achievements at Dortmund, did the German hold himself in the same high regard as the Portuguese? “No,” he replied, “I am the normal one.”
That night, with most of his new players away on international duty, he took advantage of his free weekend by going for a pint in a city centre bar, mixing with the locals, and chatting about – yes – football.
You don’t get much more normal than that. At least in Liverpool.
But the quote, designed to depict him as an ordinary, business-as-usual boss, was just Jurgen’s little joke – as we found out when he took the team to Tottenham for his first match in charge. For three seasons we had watched smartly dressed Brendan Rodgers calmly taking notes on the touchline.
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Suddenly we had a bearded wild man in a tracksuit, bear-hugging players, berating officials and fist-pumping fans.
When he made his Anfield bow, it was as if he’d jumped straight out of the Kop, celebrating goals with spectacles-smashing abandon, and clutching his head in despair at every loss.
For the nine years since then the most common phrase among supporters has been “He just gets us”.
He “gets” the city too. Emotional and outspoken, with his heart on his sleeve and tongue often in his cheek, he immediately fitted into his adopted home, educating himself on its social and economic history, and even getting a crash course in Scouse.
His favourite phrase is “Boss tha!” or “that is very good”.
His politics also helped win Merseyside hearts and minds. Like revered predecessor Bill Shankly, Klopp has never hidden his left-of-centre sympathies.
A staunch backer of the welfare state, he opposes private healthcare and lower taxes for the wealthy.
He’s also refreshingly free of hypocrisy. As certain other football figures tied themselves in knots trying to defend Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 World Cup, he loudly condemned FIFA’s bidding process – even calling out journalists for failing to ask critical questions.
Opposing injustice, standing with the underdog, speaking truth to power: all qualities that are held dear in Liverpool.
And Klopp – with his fierce loyalty to those on the terraces, and his understanding of their everyday struggles – has come to embody them.
The lyrics of You’ll Never Walk Alone, with its themes of community, solidarity and strength through adversity, could have been written for him.
But now he has decided to walk away, calling time on an era in which he won virtually everything it was possible to win. He made his club champions of England, of Europe and the world.
He then added the FA Cup, the Super Cup and two League Cups.
It’s an impressive return by any standards, and one that would surely have been bigger had his main rival not been bankrolled by the richest force football has ever known.
We won’t remember him for the trophies alone, though. There was the intense “heavy metal” football that brought 50-odd thousand home fans to their feet, supercharging the legendary Anfield atmosphere.
There were the nail-biting shootouts, epic fightbacks and seemingly impossible victories that helped him deliver his pledge to “turn doubters into believers”.
Above all, there was his genuine love and respect for the people who pay the wages.
With their backing he could have easily dictated the terms of a lengthy and lucrative new contract.
Instead, he put the good of the club first and decided to step aside, knowing he’d given all he had to give.
No one is indispensable.
Many Liverpool fans thought the world had ended when Kevin Keegan left, only to see Kenny Dalglish inherit his shirt. When Shankly quit, the quiet genius Bob Paisley was waiting in the wings.
But this departure feels different. Liverpool can replace their manager but they cannot replace the man.
● Jeff Anderson is author of The Official Liverpool FC Illustrated History