Jurgen Klopp‘s successor at Liverpool will be presented with a ‘hospital pass’ of a job given the success the German has achieved at Anfield, claims Chris Sutton.
Klopp shocked the footballing world on Friday when he announced that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season after nine trophy-laden years.
The German has won the Premier League and Champions League while in the dugout at Anfield, but said he was ‘running out of energy’ to do the job.
The announcement of his departure has already sparked the search for his replacement but whoever does take over will have an almost impossible task of replicating his success.
On this Monday’s episode of It’s All Kicking Off, co-host Sutton insists Klopp’s exit will be an end of an era for the club, which could also see many of Liverpool’s biggest stars follow him out of the Anfield exit.
Jurgen Klopp shocked the footballing world be announcing he’ll leave Liverpool this summer
It’s All Kicking Off co-hosts Ian Ladyman (left) and Chris Sutton (right) claim the Liverpool job is a ‘hospital pass’ for Klopp’s successor
‘I feel sad that he’s leaving,’ Sutton said. ‘Because he’s been such a giant, he’s charismatic, but it’s the challenge of how Liverpool have pushed Manchester City. Without Klopp, Manchester City would have just romped absolutely everything. How is somebody going to replace a giant like him?’
‘They’ll need a manager with a bit of clout to handle the situation. It’s a hospital pass isn’t it?’
‘We’ve had three days to digest the Klopp news and I’m trying to get my head around why it feels so big,’ Ladyman added. ‘Because managers leave all the time. [Jose] Mourinho leaves constantly, [Arsene] Wenger left, [Sir Alex] Ferguson left, [Pep] Guardiola will leave.
‘I think the reason that this feels so enormous is that most eras end in a natural place. So for example, Arsene Wenger’s era at Arsenal left because he couldn’t do it anymore. Arguably should have left five years before.
‘People like Mourinho are very much kind of shock and awe, boom and bust managers. So they come and they go. There’s also a feeling that when Guardiola goes, he will go at a time that feels right. Klopp is going and this is why it affects more than the people at Liverpool.
‘Klopp is going at a time when it feels like there was so much more left to give, not just to Liverpool, but to the Premier League. And that rivalry, particularly…