3 months ago
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Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Billy Hogan talked this week about the work of figuring out what comes after the departure of a club legend.
For Liverpool over the past decade, Jürgen Klopp has defined the club. He certainly wasn’t the only one responsible for their success in that time, but he was the unquestioned leader and public face of the entire football club.
Klopp, though, is gone now. Arne Slot is the new public face, but key figures behind the scenes including the returning Michael Edwards and new sporting director Richard Hughes are more than they would have been during Klopp’s tenure.
It’s both a work in progress and, according to CEO Billy Hogan, a chance to step back and consider every aspect of how the football team operates as everyone prepares for what will be the first season after Klopp.
“It provided an opportunity for a reboot or reset and maybe to look at how things operate,” Hogan noted. “Jurgen departing was a seismic decision but the right decision for him and his family, so by extension the right decision for the club.
“He was very clear about leaving the club in a better place than where he found it and I think that he has done that. The timing of his announcement gave us an opportunity to go through a proper process.”
With no significant transfer activity and just one pre-season game under new head coach Arne Slot—and with key first team players still absent following summer tournaments—it’s hard to say just yet what that “reset” will end up looking like.
The foundation for success, though, is certainly there, which can’t always be said when a long-serving, legendary manager leaves a club. Now it’s up to everyone at Liverpool, from Hogan to Slot, to make the most of it.
