Jurgen Klopp is simply adored by everyone with an affiliation for Liverpool, and one journalist has hailed the Reds manager for a trait which has gone largely ‘unheralded’.
Sunday’s 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest was overshadowed by the news of Luis Diaz’s parents being kidnapped in Colombia, with Diogo Jota showing solidarity by holding aloft a shirt with his teammate’s name and number after scoring the first goal.
The LFC boss said afterwards that it was ‘the most difficult circumstance’ he’s faced in his 22-year managerial career when expressing an emotional show of support to the 26-year-old (Sky Sports).
Reflecting on the weekend’s Premier League action, The Mirror‘s Fraser Watson commended Klopp for the compassion he’s shown to his players during difficult personal moments.
The journalist wrote: “Jurgen Klopp is an elite level manager whose Liverpool sides have long epitomised the intensity, desire, and relentless that reflects the character of the manager.
“And yet, Klopp has always possessed another quality that often goes unheralded, namely a compassion for his players and recognising when certain issues outweigh the significance of football. And it’s a trait that has undoubtedly harboured unity and togetherness within his squad at Anfield.
“And that togetherness was again apparent on Sunday, amid the harrowing news that the father of Luis Diaz remains missing after his parents were kidnapped in his native Colombia. Starting in his place, Diogo Jota opened the scoring and immediately ran to the bench and held aloft a Diaz shirt to show support.
“In response to the heartfelt gesture, Diaz later conveyed his appreciation for his teammate’s support on social media. This is a Liverpool squad on the charge in the Premier League – and it’s a squad that’s bonded.”
Among the many things to like about Klopp, who’s won some of the biggest prizes in club football, the manner in which he addresses situations of much greater magnitude than the result of a match is indeed among his best traits.
In the spring of 2021, after Alisson Becker’s father tragically drowned in Brazil, the Liverpool manager wrote a hugely emotional public message to the goalkeeper which spoke volumes for what the 56-year-old is like as a person – caring, empathetic, knowing when football is secondary to players’ personal lives.
Given the extremity of what happened with Diaz’s parents, you’d hate to think that any coach would be so callous as to dismiss its seriousness, but there are certainly other managers who’ve publicly degraded matters of great importance to their players away from the pitch.
That can drive a permanent wedge through a working relationship, whereas Klopp invariably seems to strike the perfect note when addressing traumatic situations which make the outcome of a match trivial by comparison.
It’s that compassionate touch which makes him stand out as a manager who represents Liverpool with tremendous dignity, and it undoubtedly helps to foster an impregnable bond between him and the players, which in turns has fuelled the club’s on-field success over the past five years.
#Ep94 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️