Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp, announced stepping down as a manager by the end of this season. He said he is running low on energy, “we are not bunnies anymore, jumping up and down”, that felt like “running on three wheels”, “a race car that can go at 180 mph, but running on fumes and needing to take a rest stop”. Since then, the players and the fans want to make memories with the remaining matches, win everything they can and close this season as a long goodbye. How do one create such a following?
He hugs every player coming on, shouting good things in their ear as they wait to enter the field, very happy, smiling, energetic, nothing make-believe in his mannerisms. Likewise he hugs each player getting replaced, appreciating them. Like a father-friend figure. He seems to naturally love them all. He was throwing kids who are 18, 19 years, to play in Wembley stadium, in front of more than 80,000 people - they didn’t seem nervous. Their manager trusted them completely and the commentators were talking about what kind of growth would this give these young players going through this experience at such a young age. Pick the right people, train them, believe in their abilities, make them believe in themselves and then allow them to go into fire and trust them. One friend had told me about someone he worked with years back that “If I ask, she will go to any war with me” - how does one create such trust?
If two teams are balanced on the basis of talent, training, practice and preparation, it seems to me that the team that is more cohesive, who supports each other, wants to be each other’s company will fight to win it for the group. I watched another Chelsea match where one of the players was shouting at another for wasting a chance or not passing the ball, in front of 40,000 people. It seemed ugly to be shouting at a peer like that. At the same time I watched Liverpool captain, a big brother to all these young kids, shout instructions, sometimes even appear angry, but doing it in a way that is asking them to be better and when the same captain scored the winning goal, how everyone was burying him under a human pile. Their injured teammates were all watching on, cheering, going through the emotional anguish, being there for the team. This is a united group who will win any battle.
I believe being a disciplinarian will not cut it as well. I had been following another football club for more than 15-20 years, Manchester United. They have been going through a tough time for many years now. Their current manager, Erik Ten Hag, is supposed to be good, and had a track record of creating good teams and winning. But I wish he would smile more, loosen up, get out of being in the news all the time about disciplining his players for going out to celebrate birthdays, or to be with friends and all such. Deal with all such behind closed doors, but then enjoy the ride afterwards, through struggles and wins. I think that is why I liked Jurgen - he is authentic, comfortable in his skin, speaks his mind, all his emotions, good and bad, are there for everyone to see and when we see someone is as human as us, that builds the connection.
At the end I watched them collect the trophy, have the time of their life in front of the adoring fans, hug each other and Jurgen Klopp with a permanent smile that a Guardian newspaper article said “will have to be removed through plastic surgery”.
“It was really touching the way they played and the way they contributed,” Klopp said of the young players. “The situation before we scored, when we got the corner, I don’t think I will ever forget it. Caoimhín [Kelleher] passes the ball out to Wataru, the ball goes left to [Jarell] Quansah, passes it down the line then Dannsy [Jayden Danns] chips the ball, James [McConnell] passes the ball to Bobby Clark, who is waiting between the lines. That is wonderful because these details in football are incredibly important – the positions you are in – and these boys are doing it. It shows it’s possible. I didn’t know it was possible.
“If you’d asked me before this lineup: ‘Can you win a game in extra time against Chelsea?’ No. Impossible. But seeing it and being part of it is super special. I know we won bigger trophies, it just didn’t feel like that in that moment.”
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