Thanks for that Yorky. I think you've hit on the most important trait in Klopp, and that is decency.
We all know modern football is a cesspool. So many bad people with bad intent everywhere.
One of my favourite lines in Gladiator is when Richard Harris's Marcus Aurelius says about his nephew 'Commodus is not a moral man'. I think of that in relation to so many managers: Guardiola working for a despotic dictatorial regime of cheats yet claiming the high moral ground on Catalan independence; Mourinho and his endless cheating and snideness, Ferguson and his bullying and consequence-free behaviour. (The cops caught you driving down the hard shoulder. Take your penalty points like a man instead of getting an expensive QC to find a loophole).
But Klopp was different, and absolutely a moral man. As you say, his dealings with Daire, and Sean Cox's family, and the hundreds of encounters we didn't see - writing letters to fans with serious illnesses, giving them hope in dark times. And even in his moments of triumph in Madrid, he didn't give Son Heung-min a quick hug and tell him better luck next time. He spent a couple of minutes with him, remembering what it felt like losing in 2013 and 2018 and passing on words of wisdom and empathy before celebrating properly with the rest of his team.
We'll remember how he made us felt. He made us feel like we were important, and that we mattered.
I'm not honestly particularly bothered about how successful Arne Slot is compared to the cheats and chancers who populate English football. I'm 50 next year, and my passion for football might be spent. Whether he wins 1 League Cup or 2 won't define him. But I do hope that he is, like Jurgen, a moral man. It's all we should hope for. It's what we deserve.
That’s a great response to a lovely, heartfelt tribute Ray (thanks Yorky). The game IS in a dubious place and it takes someone like Klopp to enable us to see through the stooges for corrupt ownerships who have served as fellow football managers during his tenures. Would/could he have ever worked for those clubs? I think we know the answer.
Moreover, Yorky touches on another key aspect of Jurgen Klopp’s legacy - the fact that imitation is the severest form of flattery. We see it all over the shop, and in other divisions domestically, and indeed in other leagues away from these shores. His influence goes way beyond those on Merseyside, and way beyond football. A very close angling pal of mine from Cardiff, who’s not into football, told me years back he’d taken an interest in LFC, because it was obvious that in Klopp, we’d employed a “really good person”.
