Klopp Seeks Private Life after Liverpool Exit, Rules Out Immediate Return

Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp reacts after his very last match with Liverpool after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp reacts after his very last match with Liverpool after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
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Klopp Seeks Private Life after Liverpool Exit, Rules Out Immediate Return

Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp reacts after his very last match with Liverpool after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp reacts after his very last match with Liverpool after the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Anfield Stadium in Liverpool, England, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Former Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said he plans to retreat into a private life following his departure from the Premier League club and has no immediate plans to return to management.
Klopp bade farewell to the Anfield faithful in a long address after Liverpool's 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday and led the crowd in a song for incoming manager Arne Slot, who has enormous shoes to fill, Reuters said.
Klopp, who famously introduced himself as "the normal one" in his first Liverpool press conference, was glad he is leaving the club in a good position after enjoying a trophy laden career.
"But look, it's not burning behind me and that gives me a good feeling," Klopp told reporters on Sunday in his last post-match press conference, adding that he will return to Anfield someday as a spectator.
The German will be packing his bags after a few emotional weeks in the city. In January, the 56-year-old announced he will leave at the end of the season after nine years at the helm due to draining energy levels.
"A private life must be planned and I didn't plan anything yet because I was here," Klopp said. "Probably Ulla (Sandrock, his wife) will update me where we go but I follow happily."
"I don't know exactly why nobody believes I probably will not be a manager again but I understand because obviously it seems to be a drug, because everybody comes back and everyone works until they are 70-something.
"Other people can do it in different ways, I have to be all-in, I have to be the spark, I have to be the energy, I have to be all these kind of things and I'm empty.
"You only have to look outside which clubs are obviously available. There will be opportunities, but I don't sit here and think, 'Maybe in a year's time I take that.'"



‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
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‘Flooding Rains’ Threaten to Dampen Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony

Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)
Paris 2024 Olympics - Opening Ceremony - Paris, France - July 26, 2024. Spectators are seen behind the Eiffel Tower ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics. (Reuters)

The Paris Olympics look likely to get off to a soggy start.

Meteo-France, the French weather service, is predicting “flooding rains” Friday evening when the opening ceremony is set to unroll along the Seine River. But the show is set to go on as planned, starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT/7:30 p.m. CEST and should last more than three hours.

Already in the late afternoon, skies were gray with intermittent drizzle. There was a silver lining, though, with temperatures expected to stay relatively warm throughout the evening.

Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 6,800 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). Though 10,700 athletes are expected to compete at these Olympics, hundreds of soccer players are based outside Paris, surfers are in Tahiti and many have yet to arrive for their events in the second week, organizers said Thursday.

Hundreds of thousands of people, including 320,000 paying and invited ticket-holders, are expected to line the Seine’s banks as athletes are paraded along the river on boats.