Liverpool’s reaction to Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he is leaving Anfield at the end of the season could hardly have been more impressive.
Since the manager made his shock declaration, the team have scored nine goals in two games and approach Sunday’s fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates with soaring morale.
A week on, the squad appear to have responded to Klopp’s rallying cry: do not look beyond the next match. The future is now.
For the 56-year-old, every thought, every emotion, is focused on the next four months. In June, he will be able to pause, take a breath and reflect on his time on Merseyside.
But life at Anfield will go on. The vacuum left by Klopp has to be filled. Charismatic managers can overwhelm clubs with their personality.
When giants of the game depart, they can unintentionally leave a smouldering heap behind them.
Fenway Sports Group (FSG), the owners, do not do charisma. They have a huge task ahead of them to find someone to replace Klopp. Even before that, they need to employ a sporting director, a position that has not been adequately filled since the departure of Michael Edwards two years ago.
It is no secret that FSG wanted Edwards back. He was the first call they made after the Klopp news broke. The 44-year-old rebuffed the opportunity immediately.
Tim Steidten’s name has cropped up repeatedly in connection with the role at Anfield. The West Ham United technical director was at Bayer Leverkusen when the German club appointed Xabi Alonso, one of the favourites to succeed Klopp. This may be a case of outsiders connecting the dots rather than serious interest.
Fenway are still in the process of analysing their list of potential sporting directors. They are known to admire Tiago Pinto, the Portuguese who parted company with AS Roma last month. Despite the urgency of the situation, the American owners will not be rushed into a decision.
As for the next manager, the club are applying their usual analytics-based approach to a number of candidates. These are the same methods they used to recruit Klopp nine years ago. However, what really won the hearts of FSG was the German’s enthusiasm and his assertion that he could compete on four fronts with the squad he inherited from Brendan Rodgers.
The new manager was either telling the owners what they wanted to hear or had not watched Rodgers’ team enough. It did not matter, though. Klopp had the range of skills to restructure the club and make the team competitive.
FSG need a different sort of manager now. Given the strength of the squad and the quality of academy graduates, they can look at individuals with a different skill set. The choice in 2015 was between Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti and the Italian, great manager that he is, was less suited to a rebuilding role.
Now, the combination of experienced players and youthful prospects allows the owners to view the job from a different angle. They need a “finisher” more than a “builder.” FSG feel they have a wider range of options this time round.
That does not rule out Alonso, whose playing career at Anfield endears him to the crowd. His age, 42, and achievements at Real Sociedad B and Leverkusen would place him firmly in FSG’s sights even without the Liverpool connection. It would be going too far to think that a decision has already been made on the Basque.
“He’s not a slam dunk,” a source close to Fenway said. “FSG don’t do slam dunks.”
The owners will not be rushed but there are issues that grow more urgent by the day. The looming contract negotiations of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are on everyone’s mind. Van Dijk articulated the concerns after the victory over Norwich City in the FA Cup last week when he said he did not know whether he would be part of the post-Klopp era.
The captain reined back on those remarks before the Chelsea game but players and fans are worried about what comes next for arguably the three most important members of the squad.
Alexander-Arnold is the priority. At 25, FSG see him as the club’s talisman for the next half decade or more. The thought process on the other two is more complex.
Van Dijk will be 34 next year and Salah 33. The Americans are extremely cautious when it comes to giving contract extensions to players of that advanced age. Even if Klopp had decided to stay, Fenway would have been mulling over some hard choices come the end of the season.
The new manager coming in will have to accept the realities that come with being in charge of Liverpool. The club has tight budgets compared to Manchester City and FSG will not compromise them.
Unless they are absolutely certain that Salah and Van Dijk have the mileage in their legs, they will use the money elsewhere. The new regime will have to buy into this way of thinking, however painful it might be at times.
Despite Klopp’s huge presence at Anfield, FSG are confident that the transition will be less difficult than many outsiders are predicting. There is a real sense of belief in the team – and in the stands – that the Klopp era will end in a blaze of glory. There may be a lack of infrastructure around the manager but the production line from the academy to the first team is well established and is expected to continue.
The owners are confident that the new man will have a much wider range of opportunities at his fingertips than Klopp had nine years ago. Anfield is in much better health than at any other time since FSG took over 14 years ago, they believe. Time will tell if they are correct.
They need to get the big decisions right in the next four months to take advantage of the situation. Klopp and the team will take care of themselves. FSG are bullish that they can match their success and move smoothly into a new age at Anfield.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/KumC3Hq
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