Liverpool’s awful 3-0 loss against Atalanta last night really brought home the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s time is almost up.
There had long been hope that the Europa League could provide the ideal send-off for Klopp’s career with the Reds.
Being the only trophy that the manager is yet to win at Anfield, it would close off the chapter nicely. With the final set to be held in Dublin, it would also have given supporters the perfect venue for a goodbye party.
Nevertheless, football is football and things rarely work out how you want them to. Having been battered in the first-leg, it now looks likely that there will be no Dublin farewell for Klopp.
As a result, Liverpool must now focus on the Premier League. But with just seven games to go domestically, the reality is that we’re now into the very last throes of Klopp at Anfield. With so little time left, the hunt for Jurgen’s replacement is now really starting to heat up.
Ruben Amorim ‘standing out’ to Liverpool
Over the past week or so, Ruben Amorim has started to emerge as the definitive front-runner for the Liverpool job.
Although reports of an agreement being reached earlier in the week proved premature, the Sporting manager is certainly a strong contender.
According to The Independent’s ‘Reading the Game’ newsletter though, Amorim is not the only manager Liverpool are considering.
They claim that the Reds are still yet to make a concrete decision. Instead, they are said to be ‘still considering different managerial profiles.’
Amid that, Amorim has reportedly ‘stood out’, though. Coming from what is described as a ‘distinctive school’ of management, Liverpool’s new hierarchy , i.e. Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards, are said to have been ‘struck’ by the 39-year-old’s ‘impressive personality.’
Read More: Liverpool have an obvious Amorim alternative nobody is talking about
Who else could Liverpool be considering
There are two or three other names to have been mentioned in connection with the Liverpool job.
Amorim does seem to be comfortably the favourite now, with links to the likes of Roberto De Zerbi going very quiet indeed.
However, other names such as Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann don’t seem to be going away. Thiago Motta of Bologna is another who has been named as being in the frame.
So, while Amorim may be standing out to Hughes, Edwards and co, nothing is done until it’s done. If he doesn’t quite have the full package that Liverpool are looking for, they may be better off going for someone else.