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listening to the Men in

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Blazers Media Network, Suboptimal Radio.

1:51

And here we go. Welcome

2:05

back. Today is one of the days

2:08

that we won't forget. Of course, everything

2:10

today is related to Jurgen Klopp. It

2:12

was a bomb, it was unexpected news. So

2:15

let's start from here. What was your reaction?

2:18

Yes, first of all, I would

2:20

say that we have to celebrate this

2:22

day. First of all, I want to

2:24

say congratulations to Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp

2:26

because many times in football, especially at

2:28

elite clubs like Liverpool, top world clubs

2:30

like them, you can see many

2:32

times that maybe directors, owners, presidents, managers,

2:35

they fight each other behind the scenes

2:37

and then they pathway in the summer.

2:39

So sometimes we see these kinds of

2:41

situations. They decided to be very serious,

2:43

very mature, to communicate the decision in

2:45

the middle of a fantastic season for

2:47

Liverpool because they are super competitive on

2:50

all fronts. So to sit and discuss

2:53

this incredible decision today in that kind

2:55

of calm, honest and serious way is

2:57

showing probably why Jurgen Klopp is a

2:59

fantastic manager and really appreciated in the

3:02

dressing room for many years, but also

3:04

why Liverpool have been that successful in

3:06

the recent nine, eight years.

3:09

So credit to them for the communication, but

3:11

obviously it's a big bomb and it is

3:13

going to close an era for Jurgen Klopp

3:15

who made the history of Liverpool. Was

3:18

something expected or not at all? No,

3:21

it was not expected. Honestly, it was not expected,

3:23

not just I think on journalistic point of view,

3:25

but also the same in the dressing room. Many

3:28

players were just told about this

3:30

thing in the morning. So early morning, the

3:32

message arrived into the dressing room of Liverpool

3:34

and then it was released by the club

3:36

with the official statement. So it was not

3:38

expected also because Jurgen Klopp didn't want to

3:41

create any problem to a

3:43

very young group. This is the point,

3:45

probably with the team from three, four

3:47

years ago, it was easier maybe to

3:49

communicate them earlier this season, but during the

3:51

season, but now with this young team

3:53

full of young players, it was probably going to

3:56

affect them. And so he wanted to take his

3:58

time to be 100% sure. after

4:00

the initial communication he made in November.

4:02

He said, running out of energy, and this

4:04

was the message he sent the club around

4:07

October, November, then he continued in conversations

4:09

to try to find a way together,

4:11

but then probably was impossible to

4:13

keep the news secret till the

4:15

end of the season. And so Jurgen Klopp wanted to

4:17

be very homeless, very clear with the fans, with the

4:19

players, with the club. And I still think this is

4:21

the best way always to communicate. Why

4:24

did he decide to communicate it now and

4:26

not at the end of the season or

4:28

before maybe? Yes, I

4:30

think it's pretty clear. Probably you

4:32

can try to hide this kind of big

4:35

news for three, four weeks,

4:37

maybe one month, maybe two months, but more

4:39

than this is very complicated in modern football,

4:41

in modern communication and industry. We know that

4:43

so well. You can get information from many

4:45

people, not just directly from the club or

4:48

the player or the manager or the agent,

4:50

but now the news can come from every

4:52

single source around the world. And so probably

4:54

Jurgen Klopp didn't want the news to be

4:56

maybe on a Twitter account or on a

4:58

paper or whatever before communicating to the squad,

5:01

before communicating to the single

5:03

players and also to the fans. And so for Jurgen

5:05

Klopp, it was really important to make his

5:07

final decision. As he mentioned, really November, October,

5:09

he started thinking about it. But now he

5:11

was 100% sure and he decided

5:14

to communicate in a very honest way. So this

5:16

is why they decided not to wait and the

5:18

club also appreciated the idea of Jurgen Klopp. So

5:20

this is why they decided together to communicate now.

5:23

Let's go point by point. Let's touch

5:25

on everything. What's

5:27

the reason why is Klopp living? He

5:29

explained that really well, but what's

5:32

your opinion also on that? Yes,

5:34

I think he's being very honest. I think we

5:36

spent the whole day with people

5:38

mentioning, okay, what's going to be next for

5:40

Jurgen Klopp now? I think he's being very,

5:42

very clear. It's the reality. He's running out

5:44

of energy and it's something that we can

5:46

respect because as Eric and Al say today

5:48

in press conference, when it's Premier League, it's

5:50

very competitive being touched football. At some point,

5:52

you probably need to be more

5:55

free to take care

5:57

of your priorities in a different way also in

5:59

private life. It's a personal decision.

6:01

It's not a decision made because of football

6:03

problems or any other issue with the club.

6:05

It's not about that. It's not easy to

6:07

work for many years in a club like

6:10

Liverpool, also with the owners who are not

6:12

every single day close to the manager, close

6:14

to the board. So sometimes it's also making

6:16

things complicated and slow. This is also a

6:19

topic. I'm not saying that he's

6:21

leaving because of the owners. It's not the topic.

6:23

But sometimes when you stay at the club for

6:25

eight, nine years to have this kind of situation,

6:27

probably it's not that helpful. And so I think

6:30

it's mixed factors. But at the end, Jurgen

6:32

Klopp decided to close this era in the

6:34

best way possible. And I also think that

6:36

from what I'm hearing, his plan is like,

6:38

okay, this season, we're doing very well. There

6:40

is a very good chance for Liverpool to

6:43

win some titles at the end of the

6:45

season or maybe already in February with the

6:47

Carabao Cup. The question now is, so

6:49

what's next for Klopp after nine years

6:52

at Liverpool? It was such

6:54

a long time, not for him at the club. Yes,

6:57

this is a very good question because I'm also curious honestly

6:59

to see what's going to happen.

7:01

He's always been in the list of the

7:03

best clubs around the world for a long

7:05

time. He's always been the dream target for

7:07

the German national team. And he probably remains

7:09

the dream target for the future of the

7:12

German national team. Obviously, they have a fantastic

7:14

coach now, L'Hearn Janagasmann, who's a very young

7:16

coach. So the plan is to obviously continue

7:18

and keep going with Jurgen Nagasmann. But

7:20

I think that Jurgen Klopp remains the dream

7:22

of the people in the Federation of the

7:24

German national team for the future. Obviously not

7:26

for the present. But really, I don't think

7:28

we will have an answer to this question

7:30

in short time, like months. I think it

7:32

will take time. He was very clear in

7:35

communicating today in the press conference that at

7:37

least for one year he wants to be

7:39

away from negotiations or this kind of stuff

7:41

for his future. So I think it will

7:43

take some time. But I'm sure that it's

7:45

going to be exciting because probably he needed

7:47

something different. He needed something fresh. And so

7:49

he's going to take his time before deciding.

7:52

We talked about Jurgen Klopp. So now let's

7:54

talk about Liverpool. So what's next for

7:56

Liverpool? Because they extended his contract less

7:58

than one year ago, basically. And

8:00

there were already rumors about Shabi Alonso, there

8:02

was a press conference today, so now I

8:04

think we will have a lot of rumors

8:07

in the coming weeks. Yes,

8:09

and it's obvious, but from what I was

8:11

checking also a couple of minutes ago, I'm

8:13

told that Liverpool have not started yet the

8:15

process to decide who is going to be

8:17

the new manager. Why? Because today, obviously the

8:19

big news is Jurgen Klopp, but also his

8:21

staff is leaving the club at the

8:23

end of the season, and the director of football,

8:25

George Schmatke, is going to leave the club immediately

8:27

next week, at the end of the January transfer

8:30

window. It means that Liverpool will

8:32

need not just a new manager, but

8:34

a new project, new director, new staff, new manager.

8:36

Everything is going to change on the club. Obviously

8:39

the players will stay there, but the point is,

8:41

it's going to be something completely new. Even to

8:43

find new players, to do new negotiations, you need

8:45

to present the project, and the project will be

8:47

with a new director, not just with a new

8:50

manager. So the director is going to be really

8:52

important. I think from what I'm hearing that

8:54

the priority for Liverpool in the next weeks

8:56

is going to have some interview

8:58

with directors, so to understand who is

9:00

the director who can take care of

9:03

this new project, and then to have some conversation

9:05

to understand who is the best manager for

9:07

their future project. So for sure, Chaby

9:10

Alonso is super attractive, would be a

9:12

fantastic candidate. What he's doing at

9:14

Bayern Leverkusen is absolutely great. So Chaby Alonso

9:16

can be a candidate, but Chaby

9:18

Alonso is also very appreciated by Bayern. Let's see what happens

9:20

at Bayern with Thomas Tuchel from now till the end of

9:22

the season. Nothing is happening now, but at the end of

9:25

the season, we have to see in terms

9:27

of trophies what's going to happen there. But for sure,

9:29

Chaby Alonso is going to be super attractive. We

9:32

know Roberto de Derni will have a list close into

9:34

his contract in the summer, not during the season. So

9:36

there can be many candidates. I'm

9:38

really curious to see what's going to happen, but

9:41

the crucial point is new director and then new

9:43

manager. The news of Jurgen

9:45

Klopp leaving Liverpool was shocking for all of

9:47

us and probably also for the Liverpool players.

9:49

So the question now is, can

9:52

this decision have an impact also on

9:55

the players' future like Mosela, for example? Yes,

9:58

I think it can have an impact. Because obviously when you

10:01

have a manager like Jurgen Klopp is not

10:03

just a manager. Nine years, it means that

10:05

the manager is really part of the club.

10:07

When you join Liverpool, you join Liverpool or

10:09

you extend the contract at Liverpool because you

10:11

know that Jurgen Klopp will be there. So

10:13

it's not just that I'm going to that

10:15

club and then I can have like two,

10:17

three, four managers. It happens around the world.

10:19

When you sign for Liverpool, you sign also

10:21

for Jurgen Klopp. So that was a crucial

10:24

point. Now for players like Mo Salah, but

10:26

also remember the situation of Virgil van Dijk,

10:28

Alexander Arnaud, these players are out of contract

10:30

in summer 2025. So their

10:32

contract situation is going to be absolutely important.

10:34

It's going to be something to clarify as

10:36

soon as possible for Liverpool. Again,

10:38

with Mo Salah, we knew that last summer

10:40

and of August from Saudi, they offered £150

10:42

million for Mo Salah. Liverpool said, no, let's

10:44

see if we will try again in next

10:46

summer. But for sure, Liverpool will now need

10:48

to present a new project with a new

10:50

director, with a new manager, with a new

10:52

face of the project. So this is the

10:54

crucial point. I think it's going to have

10:57

an impact in terms of timing because the

10:59

timing will now be different for Liverpool. It's

11:01

going to be time to have conversations with

11:03

these players and to be very honest on

11:05

what's next on their future. They can't wait

11:08

so much also because the

11:10

situation of Jurgen Klopp

11:12

is obviously creating a

11:15

kind of strange feeling around the players

11:17

if you see Jurgen Klopp living. And

11:19

so timing will be absolutely crucial. But

11:21

on these three names, Mo Salah, Alexander

11:23

Arnaud and van Dijk is going to

11:25

be really important to see what Liverpool

11:27

will present in terms of negotiations. Any

11:30

other impact that this decision can have

11:32

in the future of the club? Yeah,

11:35

I think it's going to be important also what

11:38

happens with the young players, because obviously with Jurgen

11:40

Klopp Liverpool decided to trust many young players like

11:42

Jarek Kwanzaa and looks to other players at the

11:44

club. It was already in the

11:46

plan of the club with Jurgen Klopp till

11:49

September, October to prepare something for this player's

11:51

future, also in terms of contracts. So it's

11:53

about the big stars, but also about the

11:55

young players. Let me clarify, I'm not saying

11:57

anything negative. It's just that you have to

11:59

present. different project. So this is something absolutely

12:01

normal in football. When you change the manager, you

12:03

need to have a new idea, a new tactical

12:06

idea, a new approach, a new face, a new

12:08

mentality. So this is what Liverpool will have to

12:10

do. It's kind of a big

12:12

change like when you change the owner. So

12:14

you need to present something completely new to

12:16

the players and this is also valid for

12:18

the young players. Liverpool have many important young

12:20

players. They feel they get protected on that

12:22

kind of situation. So they will take their

12:24

time to present this new project. But again,

12:27

the timing will be crucial and I expect

12:29

Liverpool to enter into conversations with a new

12:31

director of football very soon and then to

12:33

move into a new manager because obviously that

12:35

is going to be a huge one. It

12:38

was an incredible day, one that we won't forget

12:40

for a long time. Thank you Fabri, talk to

12:42

you soon. Thank you guys. Ciao, here

12:44

we go. On

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