Liverpool now know that they have just six more games to play with Jurgen Klopp at the helm.
There had been hope that Klopp would be able to sign off in style with a Europa League final in Dublin next month.
But after Liverpool’s 3-1 aggregate loss against Atalanta last night, that’s no longer a possibility. Instead, the Reds must put everything they’ve got into turning around a two-point deficit at the top of the Premier League table.
Beyond that, the talk over the past couple of months has been of who exactly will follow Klopp at Anfield. There are reportedly two main front-runners but nothing has been decided.
As a result, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has taken a look at the potential candidates in video for Sky Sports.
Jamie Carragher makes Thomas Tuchel claim
There are still a number of different names seemingly in the running to take over at Liverpool. Ruben Amorim is the current favourite and there was renewed talk yesterday that a contract offer is on the table for the Sporting manager.
But while we wait to hear the veracity of those claims, there’s far from being anything official right now. That has left the door wide open to speculation.
Of course, Klopp leaving Liverpool came as a huge surprise to just about everyone. With the timing not quite perfect, there’s a chance the Reds won’t get their ideal replacement in. And according to Carragher, he ‘always’ thought that when the time came, Thomas Tuchel would be the man to take the reigns.
“I actually used to think Thomas Tuchel should be well high up in the running for the Liverpool job after Klopp,” says the 46-year-old.
“I always felt this when he was at Chelsea and when he left Chelsea. The reason being is because I think for any manager following Klopp is going to be tough. Not just for the football, the trophies, but for the personality, who he is. And Thomas Tuchel has done that twice before, at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund and he did great jobs at both clubs.
“Klopp’s personality would have been difficult to replace at those clubs as well, as it’s going to be for Liverpool. He’s had experience of that, which I thought would be a big factor for any manager coming in at Liverpool.
“And the fact he’s a Champions League winning manager. He won it with Chelsea, got to the final with PSG. I just think the fact that maybe it hasn’t gone as well as he would have liked at Bayern Munich, he knows he’s going to lose his job at the end of the season.
“I think it means the timing’s probably not right for him. You always want to come in on the back of being successful or the new kid on the block maybe. I just think the timing’s wrong’s for Thomas Tuchel.”
Will Liverpool hire Thomas Tuchel
For the time being, it doesn’t appear as though Tuchel’s name is even in the running for Liverpool. And yet, for all the reasons Carragher mentions, maybe he should be.
The 50-year-old actually ticks plenty more boxes than many would give him credit for. As Carra points out, he’s followed Klopp twice before, he’s been successful everywhere he’s been and he’s even managed in the Premier League before.
Of course, there’s the caveat that he hasn’t done a great job with Bayern this time. But he does also have the Germans in a Champions League semi-final and has a shot at making it to the final with a third different team.
Tuchel perhaps would not be a popular appointment with Liverpool fans and we don’t think it will be him. But with David Ornstein reporting that FSG might throw a curveball choice into the mix, maybe don’t rule successive German coaches for Liverpool out just yet.