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.'"



'It's a Joke': Chelsea Boss Maresca Slams Weather Chaos

Play is halted at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Chelsea's Club World Cup game against Benfica. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Play is halted at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Chelsea's Club World Cup game against Benfica. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
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'It's a Joke': Chelsea Boss Maresca Slams Weather Chaos

Play is halted at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Chelsea's Club World Cup game against Benfica. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Play is halted at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte in Chelsea's Club World Cup game against Benfica. ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca lashed out at the two-hour weather delay that disrupted his team's Club World Cup victory over Benfica on Saturday, suggesting the tournament should be played elsewhere in future.

Chelsea powered into the quarter-finals after defeating Benfica 4-1 in extra-time after a game that took 4hrs 39mins to complete following a two-hour stoppage due to a storm warning.

It was the sixth time that a game has been halted at the tournament due to widely used rules in the United States that require outdoor sporting events to be halted if there is a chance of lightning.

Maresca said afterwards the number of games that had been disrupted should prompt a rethink, AFP said.

"For me personally, it's not football," the Chelsea boss said. "It's already (six) games they suspended here. I think it's a joke. It's not football.

"It's completely amazing, it's completely something new that I struggle to understand.

"I can understand that for security reasons, you have to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven or eight games, that means that probably this is not the right place to do this competition."

Chelsea had been poised to wrap up victory after Reece James's second-half free-kick left them 1-0 up with four minutes left to play.

But the storm warning forced the players off the field and it was nearly two hours before play resumed.

"It was one of the best performances of the last few weeks," Maresca said.

"The game was very good for 85 minutes, then we stopped for two hours, and when we started it was a completely different game. It's not the same game because you break the tempo."

Maresca emphasized that he remained a fan of the Club World Cup, which was expanded to 32 teams for the first time this year, and is being held in the United States as an informal dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup in North America.

"It's a fantastic competition. It's the Club World Cup, all the best clubs are here," he said.

"But six, seven games suspended? It's not normal. In a World Cup how many have they suspended? Probably zero. In a European (Championship), how many games? Zero. There is some problem."