Klopp, Xavi and the burden of the managerial love affair

The Liverpool and Barcelona bosses announced they will walk away from the their clubs at the of the season citing exhaustion.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp during the Emirates FA Cup fourth round match against Norwich on Sunday.

Jürgen Klopp leaving Liverpool. Xavi leaving Barcelona. Thomas Tuchel perhaps under pressure at Bayern Münich. Extremely speculative stories in Spain about Mikel Arteta contemplating his future at Arsenal. There are decades when nothing happens, and weeks when decades happen: this summer there could be a truly spectacular merry-go-round of managers with Roberto De Zerbi, Thiago Motta, Unai Emery, Hansi Flick and Rúben Amorim all in the mix.

The situations of Klopp and Xavi are different, even if they have both won one league title. Klopp will have been in the job almost nine years when he leaves and in that time has transformed Liverpool into one of the best sides in Europe. For him that title count of one is misleading because it doesn’t reflect the level of opponent he has been up against, the near-impossibility of taking on Manchester City under Pep Guardiola. With inferior financial resources he has been consistently competitive and that itself is enough to make him one of the greatest three managers in the club’s history.