Klopp has taken Liverpool to the brink of the Champions League final – but he’s under more pressure than he planned for after Željko Buvač steps back.
The exact reasons why are unclear but Jurgen Klopp’s ‘right-hand man’ Željko Buvač stepped away from the club this week, leaving the Liverpool boss in a position he never wanted to be in.
Klopp has worked alongside Buvač ever since his first managerial appointment with Mainz 05 in 2001 and their success together has seen both move to Borussia Dortmund in 2008 and Liverpool in 2015.
The German has referred to Buvač as ‘the brain’ of the operation while seeing himself as ‘the heart’ – and now comes the ultimate test to prove that’s the case.
Trying to win the Champions League is as big a pressure as there is in club football, let alone having to do it out of your comfort zone.
It means Klopp’s ability to maintain a philosophy and hold a squad together will get tested far beyond he ever would have wanted; this isn’t a test that a manager is supposed to face.
We’ll all learn just how good Klopp is over the next month – but he would never have wanted it this way.
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