‘It’s not so important what people think when you come in,” Jürgen Klopp observed on being unveiled as Liverpool manager in October 2015. “It’s much more important what people think when you leave.”

Today is the day Klopp leaves. It is the final day of the Premier League season in England, and Manchester City will probably be (again) crowned champions. It is also the final day of Klopp’s tenure as Liverpool manager, a moment that will wring the emotions, and not just at Anfield. Football is deeply tribal, but Klopp stepping down is an event that resonates well beyond Liverpool supporters, even beyond the world of football.

Football managers come and go. Since Klopp arrived in Liverpool, Nottingham Forest have gone through nine permanent managers, Everton eight, Chelsea seven, Spurs five and Manchester United four. Managerial instability has become part of the landscape of football. So why has Klopp’s leaving stirred such emotions?

Part of the answer is that Klopp is a world-class coach, probably one of the top five of his generation. Under his tutelage, Liverpool won the Premier League title for the first time in 30 years, their first Champions League since 2005, the Club World Cup, as well as a bevy of domestic cups.

Klopp’s rivalry with Pep Guardiola, the Spaniard who became Manchester City manager four months after Klopp arrived at Liverpool, and who may be the greatest of modern managers, has not only come to define the contemporary Premier League but also to reshape the character of English football. Guardiola said of Klopp’s retirement: “I felt........

© The Guardian