He sat on the bench in the shade of the main stand and bit his lower lip as the music played. Beneath the black cap, her eyes were filled with tears. Not a teardrop, but close enough. She had started Jurgen Klopp’s last day of work at Liverpool.
On the other side, where people had placed programs on their foreheads to protect themselves from the sun, supporters held up squares of white construction paper to form a simple word. Jürgen. It was one of the few things about this day that was underrated.
Once the chords of ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ faded out, a football game was supposed to begin. She never really did it, but would she ever really do it?
Wolves were a man down once Nelson Semedo was sent off midway through the first half and by the time we reached half-time they were also two goals down, Alexis MacAllister and Jarell Quansah were the scorers.
Klopp, for his part, sat quietly under the brim of that cap and let it all wash over him. Usually so full of energy that he can’t help but remain restless at the outer limits of his technical area, here he spent the entire afternoon sitting.
Klopp received a thunderous ovation from the Anfield faithful when he walked out for the final time.
The German was visibly moved by the ovation he received before the start on Sunday.
Liverpool fans displayed a mosaic with the message ‘Danke Jurgen’ before the match
Nelson Semedo was sent off after a VAR review after a hasty challenge on Alexis Mac Allister
Six minutes later, it was Mac Allister who headed home the first goal of Klopp’s final game.
Jarrell Quansah (left) then doubled Liverpool’s lead after pushing the ball over the line.
When Liverpool’s goals went in, he just smiled. From time to time he raised his fist to his chest. Maybe one day I’ll record it. To everyone he seemed like a man watching the last nine years of his working life pass before him at great speed.
And if that’s how he felt, it would be quite understandable. Because in the green acres of Anfield there was much of what we have learned to expect from its teams.
Soccer is played with the front foot and is as dictated by instinct as any coaching manual. The central figures of the glorious recent past were here. Van Dijk, Sala, Alisson and Robertson. The promise of a bright future also in Mac Allister, Quansah and Elliott.
And then the other things. A right back, Trent Alexander-Arnold, spends most of the afternoon in midfield. A center forward, Cody Gakpo, with license to play across the width of the field.
“This doesn’t feel like the end,” Klopp said as he addressed the crowd later.
“It seems like the beginning of a team full of youth and creativity.”
Of all the things we’ve loved about Klopp’s football over the years, it may have been his fierce freedom that has captivated us most.
Here Liverpool did not have to reach those peak levels. For those peak Klopp moments, we will have to close our eyes and remember the dismantling of teams like Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and even Manchester City. Is not difficult. Those of us who were here on those nights of intense sporting intensity will never forget how it felt.
The truth is that this was nothing like a Premier League football match. The sun shone in a blue sky of impossible richness as the Wolves presented modest opposition.
There was a time not long ago when Liverpool were hoping to send off Klopp with a second Premier League title. A terrible fortnight in April took care of that and left the 2020 Premier League champions with what turned out to be the fondest and, in its own way, gentlest farewell to think of.
Luis Díaz missed a sitter when he fired a shot that hit the crossbar with no goalkeeper there after Cody Gakpo found it.
Players like Mohamed Salah and Gakpo had chances to give the Reds a third in the second half.
Liverpool played quite well. A victory was appropriate. They were dominant from the start, even if Wolves were in the game until VAR undid them in the 28th minute.
It is the Black Country club that has asked its Premier League colleagues to vote on a motion to scrap the review system. Here, however, they could have few complaints. Referee Chris Kavanagh showed Semedo a yellow card for his challenge on MacAllister, but he changed it to red once VAR footage showed the challenge had been horribly high and late.
Six minutes later Liverpool took the lead. The home team worked the ball from left to right across the field and when Elliott checked to cross with his left foot, MacAllister rose in front of Santiago Bueno to head powerfully and accurately into the corner.
The goal freed Liverpool up a bit and six minutes after the first goal they sealed the match. Salah applied decent contact to a dropped ball on the volley and when the shot was only half-blocked, young centre-half Quansah was on hand to force the goal.
Klopp hugs Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was one of the few to rise through the ranks
Liverpool threatened sporadically during the second half and Salah in particular looked desperate to score. Will this also be the Egyptian’s last game in a Liverpool shirt? Liverpool’s word is that they won’t, but Salah only has one year left on his contract, so we’ll see.
You played well, Salah. He was persistently dangerous on the right and José Sa touched a curling shot into the Kop. Luis Díaz, for his part, hit the underside of the crossbar from very close range.
However, this was not a day that had much to do with the outcome. The music before kick-off pointed to Klopp. ‘There goes my hero’ by the Foo Fighters. ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie.
And as the second half progressed and Klopp used his entire substitute team, a hug with young Elliott as he left the field stood out in particular.
Klopp watches his opponents, Wolves, warm up minutes before kick-off for the last time.
During his nine years in Liverpool he turned people from skeptics into believers.
Although he had departed, the day at Anfield revolved around the legendary Liverpool manager.
Klopp is a tall man and Elliott had to reach out to hug him. As she did so, the 21-year-old looked to everyone as if he really didn’t want to let her go. And this, in short, is how half a football city feels. In reality, no one wants to let it go.
The mural painted on the side of the shop, just off the back of the Kop, perhaps says it best. “Jurgen reminded us once again who we have always been.” In a purely sporting sense, Klopp’s death will be mourned here for some time. Once that fades away, they will simply never forget it.
