‘Would I rather lose Van Dijk or the manager? I’d rather lose Van Dijk’: Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes Jurgen Klopp is irreplaceable after leading the club to Champions League glory
- Jurgen Klopp won his first trophy as Liverpool manager as they beat Tottenham to claim the Champions League crown on Saturday night
- Anfield legend Jamie Carragher believes the German is the most important figure at the club and a ‘special manager’
- Carragher says that if given a choice between keeping Klopp and keeping star defender Virgil van Dijk, he’d keep the manager
- Former defender joked that Klopp should be given a 17-year contract
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher believes manager Jurgen Klopp is the one part of the club that is indispensable and joked they should offer him a 17-year contract.
Klopp claimed his first trophy as Liverpool boss as they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 to win the Champions League in Madrid on Saturday night.
It was also the first European silverware of the German’s career and ended a torrid run of six cup final defeats dating back to 2012.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher, working as a television pundit, celebrates their Champions League win over Tottenham in Madrid on Saturday night
Carragher believes manager Jurgen Klopp is the one indispensable part of the club
Speaking on Sky Sports, Carragher said of the manager: ‘I think he is the No 1 at the club. What I mean by that is he is the most important figure.
‘Sometimes in the team you have a star player but if you’re asking me now if I’d rather lose [Virgil] Van Dijk or the manager, I’d rather lose Van Dijk.
‘I think he is a special manager. I don’t know what his contract situation is but I’d give him a new one.
‘Hopefully now he can push on. He has got that monkey off his back if you like – the first big trophy, first time he’s won the Champions League, all these finals without winning and all this talk.
Carragher celebrates with defender Virgil van Dijk following Liverpool’s 2-0 win in Madrid
Carragher hopes that Klopp can kick on with Liverpool after ending the wait for a trophy
‘Hopefully for him and those players it isn’t a one-off like it was for us in 2005.
‘We won the FA Cup the year after but we didn’t really kick on and win any more trophies. Hopefully as the manager he can do that.’
When told that Klopp’s current contract runs until 2022, Carragher joked that this should be extended by ’17 years’.
Klopp signed that deal back in the summer of 2016 after guiding Liverpool to the finals of the League Cup and the Europa League in his debut campaign at Anfield.
He has since led them to back-to-back Champions League finals and they also pushed Manchester City to the wire in the Premier League title race.