Ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen has praised Jurgen Klopp for keeping his distance from Liverpool since leaving the club in the summer of 2024, contrasting it with the behaviour of former Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. While the iconic former United boss has remained a watchful figure at Old Trafford, Owen believes Klopp’s decision to largely stay away from Anfield following his departure has been respectful towards his successor Arne Slot.
The England legend’s remarks come after the iconic German boss addressed the idea of an Anfield comeback in October last year, claiming it was theoretically possible. The mere presence of a club legend keeping watch over their successors is no doubt a bone of contention with many coaches in world football.
Owen suggested that the near-constant presence of Sir Alex at Old Trafford, since the legendary Scot retired from United in 2013, has affected the string of coaches who’ve attempted to succeed him since.
Slot won the Premier League title in his first season on Merseyside, but has struggled this year, with many fans calling for his head. However, Klopp has watched on from afar, only returning for a legends charity clash against Borussia Dortmund earlier this month.
Owen, who now represents Casino.org, a leading platform helping players find UK casino brands, exclusively told Mirror Football: “If you look down the East Lancs [road], then, you know, people have had a go at Sir Alex Ferguson for, for 10, 15 years, and basically, Sir Alex says very, very little. He rarely does interviews. He’s never, ever, ever been, you know, disparaging or disrespectful to a Manchester United manager.
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“He basically sits in the stand and watches his old team. Now, Jurgen Klopp doesn’t do that. He doesn’t come back and sit in the director’s box and look down on the manager. The role that he’s in, at Red Bull, he is thrown in front of journalists an awful lot.
“You know, he is getting asked these questions, and I’m pretty sure that if he didn’t have to do the press, he wouldn’t be out on X, and writing out statements about the state of Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp has made feelings clear on a potential return to club management(Image: PETER POWELL, AFP via Getty Images)
“I don’t think he wants to do that. But obviously, it’s probably part of his job to do the press sometimes and people ask him. So, no, I think in the main, Jurgen Klopp has been very respectful towards the Liverpool manager. He was keen to back Slot and he even started the song at Anfield, didn’t he?”
Despite Slot earning breathing room thanks to Liverpool’s stunning late win on Sunday against local rivals Everton, the pressure on the Dutchman remains. Owen, who scored 158 goals in eight seasons at Anfield, says Klopp could return to the Liverpool dugout, should Slot leave the club this summer.
However, he clarified that such a turn of events is perhaps more of a fantasy than anything else, citing Klopp’s initial reason for stepping down: that the German was running out of the energy required to steer a Premier League and Champions League-chasing club.
“I would say it’s wishful thinking, but you’d never know, do you? You absolutely never know,” Owen said. “They say never go back. It was just such an amazing, brilliant and beautiful dream of a period for Liverpool, with Jurgen Klopp in charge.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been spotted watching Manchester United on countless occasions since stepping down as manager in 2013(Image: PA Wire)
“Some of the happiest moments of a lot of Liverpool fans’ lives will be the Klopp era. So, I’m sure that lots of Liverpool fans would dream of that scenario.”And I guess if he’s going to click his fingers and [Klopp] said, ‘Right, I want to come back’, then Liverpool would have a big decision to make because it’s not like the current management are pulling up trees. Once it’s in your blood, it’s hard to get out, isn’t it? That’s the thing.
“So I do see it in many ways. I do see Jurgen Klopp potentially wanting to come back to management, but he did manage Liverpool for a long, long time and obviously decided, ‘Right, time’s up’ – whether he’d want to go and do it again [I don’t know]. Because you need some energy to go and pick it all up again and start again from afresh. It would be fascinating, but I would say more wishful thinking rather than reality.”
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