Nedum Onuoha explains to Sports Mole why he is not surprised by Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool exit and shares his views on who could succeed the German at Anfield.
Former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha was not surprised by Jurgen Klopp‘s announcement that he will be vacating his post as Liverpool manager at the end of the season.
In April 2022, Klopp extended his contract at Anfield until the summer of 2026, but on Friday morning, the German acknowledged that he is “running out of energy” and believes now is an appropriate time to announce his departure at the end of the current campaign to ensure that an orderly transition can take place.
The 56-year-old, who on Wednesday successfully steered Liverpool to a third EFL Cup final at Wembley under his tutelage, will oversee the Reds’ remaining 2023-24 fixtures before bidding farewell to the club where he has enjoyed eight-and-a-half memorable years and won six major trophies to date.
It remains to be seen whether Klopp will return to management in the future, but the former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss is expected to take an extended break from football when he departs Liverpool.
Onuoha has compared Klopp to Man City manager Pep Guardiola, who is in his eighth season at the Etihad Stadium and has also experienced plenty of success amidst the rigours of football management at the highest level.
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Speaking to Sports Mole following the release of a brand new BBC Sounds podcast ‘Planet Premier League‘ for which he is joined by Cesc Fabregas, Onuoha said: “I’m not surprised (by Klopp’s announcement), and fair play to him to be honest.
“I think himself and [Pep] Guardiola, they’ve been at the top of English football for a lot of years now and there is a lot that gets asked of them, a lot that is required of them whether its managing their players, managing their staff, managing the media, managing the fanbases, and it’s a lot.
“They’ve done so well that in my mind, they have elevated themselves to a point where they are not a normal employee, in the same way that we think that a manager might get sacked, keep their job so on and so forth. I think those two are in a position whereby if they chose to leave, people would be sad but they’ve earned the right to be able to, because that’s how significant they have been to their club.
“For Klopp, he has put Liverpool in a spot which all of a sudden feels normal for them to be challenging for everything, up near the top of the league, and historically, as mad as it may sound, that hasn’t always been the case.
“Before he came they had not won a Premier League title, they obviously came close under [Brendan] Rodgers, but there weren’t tonnes of years like that historically. There were times when we’ve seen them playing in the Europa League/UEFA Cup.
“I think [Klopp] has been one of the most consequential managers in Liverpool’s history, one of the most consequential managers in Premier League history and I’m sure the fans will be sad that he’s leaving because he’s brought so many good memories.
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“But, if there was to be somebody that you’d want to help in a transition to get the team from what it was to what it’s going to be, I think he’s the guy, and this is why all the talk of ‘Liverpool 2.0’ makes more sense, because he is creating something for the next person to be able to enjoy.
“As you look around their team, there are probably two or three players who are a bit older, but there is a lot of youth coming through, and they look like they could be there for another five, six, seven years as well.”
Onuoha believes Klopp will stick to his word and enjoy a well-earned break from football management, despite previous rumours of him taking the national team job with Germany.
“The rumours were that he would take the Germany national team job, but then Klopp said that he is going to take a break, and to be honest, I believe him,” said Onuoha. “I think when he says stuff like that, I think he sticks by it.
“[Klopp] could just say I want to leave at the end of the season and go and take the Germany job for example, but he didn’t say that, he’s just said he’s leaving Liverpool and that he wants to take a break, and I don’t think there is any reason for him to lie.
“He’s going to be judged a million different ways, but still he doesn’t care because this is his moment, this is his decision, and he has spoken with the club obviously, and that is what he has decided is best.
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“I think he will take some time off and I don’t blame him, especially given how much football has been played over the last three, four years or however long it was going through the pandemic, seeing the changes that have happened in his team.
“Still after every game he’s got to be interviewed by 10 different people saying the same thing 10 times over, and being interviewed the next morning saying the same things, and he’s a manager of one of the biggest clubs in world football – I think a break would be nice.”
A number of high-profile managers have already been tipped to replace Klopp in the summer, while the prospect of the German’s assistant Pep Lijnders stepping into the Anfield hotseat has also been mooted.
Lijnders is one of three members of Klopp’s backroom staff along with Peter Krawietz and Vitor Matos who will also vacate their positions at the end of the season, with the former said to be keen to pursue his own career in management.
While it may seem unlikely at this stage that Liverpool would consider appointing Lijnders as the club’s first-team manager, Onouha has suggested that “hiring someone internally” is an avenue the Reds may look to explore as they draw up their managerial shortlist in the coming months.
Liverpool have a history of appointing from within, as club icon Bill Shankly (1959-1974) was replaced by members of his famous ‘Boot Room’, firstly Bob Paisley (1974-1983) who became one of the most successful managers of all time, and then Joe Fagan (1983-1985), Ronnie Moran (1991) and Roy Evans 1994-1998). Ex-players Kenny Dalglish (1985-1991) and Graeme Souness (1991-1994) also took charge of the Reds during this 39-year period, with Dalglish later returning to the dugout for a brief spell between 2011 and 2012.
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“I reckon, by all accounts, Lijnders has been desperate to get a managerial job like that, and as far as wanting to change things whilst also keeping things the same, I think hiring someone internally could be the answer,” said Onuoha.
“Klopp has the personality and all that stuff, but he’s not been by himself in terms of going through those moments and if he has the respect of the team, understands the football club, then you can very much see Liverpool continuing in the same vein that they are in at this moment in time.”
Lijnders arrived at Brendan Rodgers‘s Liverpool in 2014 from Porto and initially worked as an academy coach before taking on senior coaching roles, and then becoming assistant manager.
At the age of 41-year-old, Lijnders boasts nearly 20 years of coaching experience, but his only spell in senior management came in 2018 when he took the reigns at Dutch club NEC, where he won 11 of his 22 games in charge before making a swift return to Liverpool to work under Klopp.
Both Bayer Leverkusen‘s Xabi Alonso – who spent five years as a player at Anfield – and Brighton & Hove Albion‘s Roberto De Zerbi‘s have also been linked with the Liverpool job, although the managerial duo have insisted that, for now, they are focused solely on their current roles.
