You can always find a reason to not come black to a place you’re beloved and had success, at least according to former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who expressed some understandable doubts and concerns about returning to Merseyside for Saturday’s Legends match between the Reds and Borussia Dortmund.
Following his departure in 2024, Klopp says he was hesitant to visit last season with Liverpool cruising to the Premier League title, worried early on that he might jinx it and later that he might prove
a distraction. A year on and with the Reds now struggling, his concerns were about fuelling talk of a more permanent return.
“When I left I didn’t know how often I would come back,” Klopp admitted after the 2-2 friendly draw on Saturday. “The first year I didn’t want to jinx it, now I don’t want to create the wrong expectations. So there’s always reasons not to, but this was great and there was no doubt I had to come to support the foundation
“That’s why we’re all here, aand the nice thing is we get to play a game at Anfield against my other old club, which is really nice. Being here, having absolutely no pressure, no intensity, just to be here to enjoy the atmosphere. It’s just nice. And more than 60,000 people here this afternoon too, which is completely ridiculous.”
Klopp has recently strongly rebuffed speculation he could be heading to Spain, with both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid being linked. In the past he has suggested that at this stage he has no interest in learning another language for the sake of a job, likely ruling out management in either La Liga or Italy’s Serie A.
Meanwhile, taking on another club job in the Premier League is something he has explicitly ruled out, while in Germany his Dortmund connections would also make it difficult to take on another top job. Add it all up, and if Klopp is eventually to return to management it would seem to limit the options to national teams.
That, though, is a question for the future. In the present, it was just nice to get to see Klopp back on the touchline for the Reds as he served as co-manager with fellow legend Kenny Dalglish, and even got to play to those 60,000 people in the crowd by throwing a few celebratory fist pumps despite that the game ended a draw.
