Jesus-loving Klopp never walks alone

It shocked the football world, but Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp’s decision to quit followed years of putting the game in perspective.

Klopp, in charge at Anfield since 2015 and adored by the fans, is a Christian who’s always had a wider eye on his faith.

The German, now aged 56, announced his decision to leave at the end of this season, revealing he was “running out of energy”.

The move stunned the global game, and especially the Premier League, but many comments about his beliefs over years of interviews show his wider, spiritual focus.

Legendary Anfield manager Bill Shankly memorably joked that football was “much, much more important” than life and death – and Klopp also understands his priorities.

He told fussball-gott.com: “All of these really likable guys I meet week in week out at matches or in some cases even in training, have one thing in common: they have noticed at some stage in their careers that there must be more to life than championship and relegation battles.

“They relate how a relationship with God has changed their perspective.”

He also focused on his faith in another interview with a German website, telling fr-online.de: “To be a believer, but not to want to talk about it – I do not know how it would work!

“When I look at my life – and I take time for that every day – I feel I am in sensationally good hands.

“I find it a pity if other people lack this sense of security, although they don’t know it, of course, because otherwise they would probably look for it.”

Medium.com recently questioned the Anfield boss’s priorities, stating: “Klopp’s moral compass, shaped by his Christian faith, appears to be influencing his strategic decisions, possibly to the detriment of Liverpool’s ambitions.

“Should Liverpool, and Klopp himself, rethink the balance between faith, compassion, and the cut-throat realities of top-tier football?”

Klopp now seems to have done exactly that.

Tellingly, for a manager with Champions League, Premier Leage, FA Cup and World Club Cup trophies, his chosen greatest moment isn’t on the football field.

He told Kicker Magazine in 2004 that Jesus’ sacrifice was “the greatest act that has ever been achieved because it changed everything”.

Klopp added: “Jesus Christ is the most important person in history. For me, this is an easy answer.

“This person comes into the world and has a clear mission, which is not easy to accomplish.

“In the end [of his life], he took all the sins on himself and was nailed on a cross.”

From New Life Newspaper issue 352