Jamie Carragher has revealed Jurgen Klopp tipped him to do big things at Liverpool shortly after Sir Alex Ferguson took over as Liverpool manager in 2015.
Klopp rocked the football world last week when he confirmed he would step down as Liverpool manager in the summer after nine years of trophy-winning success.
Klopp will become Liverpool’s all-time greatest player after leading the club to six major trophies during his tenure, including the Champions League and Premier League, and the 56-year-old could add to that tally if he gets the nod for this. It is scheduled to be released at the end of the season.
There are still big shoes to fill at Liverpool and work is currently underway to find a successor for the former Borussia Dortmund manager. Bookmakers’ favorite Xabi Alonso took over after a difficult start at Bayer Leverkusen.
Carragher believes Alonso has all the ingredients to succeed on Merseyside but knows it will be no easy task given Klopp’s outstanding role in turning the club into a rival to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
In an interview with Overwrap, Carragher explained how highly the former Manchester United manager thought of Klopp when he took over from Germany’s Brendan Rodgers eight-and-a-half years ago.
“I don’t know if you can replace him. The former Liverpool and England defender said: “The best thing about Klopp is that the way I see him sometimes in private or in small meetings and the way he looks on TV is who he is.”
“The person who comes in has to be himself. It can’t be Jurgen Klopp. “I always go back to my assessment of Manchester United. It looked like it was for Michael Carrick. I played there and Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager of a team and he came through the dressing room.
Klopp was announced as Liverpool manager two weeks ago and he said to me: “You have a manager.” “It was about a UEFA conference where all the best coaches in Europe gathered. It was just him.
He was the only Borussia Dortmund player at the time. “I always remember Klopp coming to Monday Night Football and I asked him about this meeting. He said he only visited twice. He said: “I wanted to make sure I was as good as them. So you never have to leave again!”
“I thought he was very confident and very comfortable with who he was. It is a Liverpool god who knows what will happen this season. “When I got the news I couldn’t process it!
“Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann agrees with Carragher that Alonso is a top candidate to replace Klopp this summer but hopes to stay at Leverkusen next season. “The story at Leverkusen is that he extended his contract at the start of this season, but I’m sure there will be an agreement where he can leave in the summer if he wants,” Hamann told The Stand.
The Eamon Dunphy Podcast. “As a romantic footballer, I would like to see him play one more season at Leverkusen. “But the question is this: Can they bring the team together?
They have some great players and I think one or two will leave and that will affect their chances next season. “I think if Liverpool come calling it will be very hard to turn them down, even if they follow in Klopp’s footsteps.
But sometimes a big club comes along. “If someone comes in the summer and does a good job, the job might not be offered for five or six years, or if they find another Klopp, it might be nine years. So I think if Liverpool call, will accept it..”
