Jurgen Klopp has not received a first-hand apology from Liverpool owner John W Henry after the Super League debacle, but he has urged fans not to turn on the owners.
The manager was thrown into the middle of the storm on Monday being the only manager from the ‘Super 12’ clubs to have to lead his team out before it all burnt to the ground.
Well and truly thrown under the bus, he conceded he was never informed of the move prior to its announcement nor did he change his view of a league that would destroy football’s jeopardy.
And while Liverpool have since withdrawn, it remains an major talking point and no doubt will remain that way for some time.
But Klopp was eager to instead look forward rather than back with the Super League no longer a threat, where he hopes to see a “stronger” bond form within the club rather than let the breakaway cause cracks from the bottom through to the top.
“I really hope the bond between us and our supporters might even get stronger,” Klopp told reporters on Friday. “And that we don’t discuss the bad decisions of the past, I just don’t understand life like this.
“They’re good people, I know the owners, I know they’re not perfect, like I’m not perfect, but they are not bad people.
“They made a not so good decision, a bad decision, but let’s carry on. That’s my point of view and I can’t tell people how to see it.
“Nothing happened and nothing will happen with the teams, they all learned their lesson, I’m pretty sure of it.
“But now we must make sure we don’t get any harm from it, like a different atmosphere in the club, for the other clubs the same obviously.
“Where fans fight with coaches, managers and teams, I’m not sure if it’s true but if it happens that would be the really bad thing about it because the rest [the competition] didn’t happen.
“They tried something, it was not allowed. So let’s go back to the beautiful game it always was. I’m not naive, I know things will be discussed, I have no problem with change.
“We all wanted the Super League away but in the same moment the new Champions League is out there and who read this concept properly and says ‘that’s perfect’.
“Who tells me now it’s not about money, it’s a joke! The Nations League, more games, Club World Cup, they don’t ask – what’s the reason, money.
“This happens constantly but in the end we could always in our moments have the perfect moment for us, playing football and enjoying the game as much as we can. That never changed so far.
“I only want to make sure that will never change. Liverpool is much more than this, and that’s what I want to make sure.
“It’s great it didn’t happen, absolutely great. It would have been really bad, but it didn’t happen and now I have a job to do.”
John Henry issued a public apology across the club’s platforms on Wednesday to Klopp, his players and the fans after a vocal backlash.
But it went no further than that as the manager revealed he has not had any further contact, and he admitted he didn’t feel it was necessary.
“No, we haven’t heard,” Klopp told reporters on talks with the owners. “I don’t think it’s necessary, I was mentioned in the apology and the team as well. It was personal enough for me.”
While Klopp may not be bothered, it’s certainly a bizarre move from the owners not to touch base with the man who has been at the heart of Liverpool’s transformation after both keeping him in the dark and then throwing him to the wolves.
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