The Daily Telegraph - Sport

Chaotic defeat just part of the wild Klopp ride

All-or-nothing approach has won one cup but cost another and gives hope to those brave enough to take manager on

Whether he waves goodbye holding one trophy or three, the Jurgen Klopp era will end as it began; a wild ride absorbing incredible scenes that would have been even more enjoyable for him but for the occasional heavy puncture.

The calamitous finale to the FA Cup campaign offered an accurate summary of what has made Klopp’s Anfield reign so intoxicati­ng.

Seconds remained as every Liverpool player bar right-back Conor Bradley hunted the winning goal from a corner. After 119 minutes and with penalties beckoning, many coaches would have considered pragmatism the wiser option.

Not Klopp. A month ago the same strategy led to Kostas Tsimikas picking out Virgil van Dijk to trigger some of the most raucous celebratio­ns seen under the manager as Liverpool won the Carabao Cup.

This time, that same ambition was the catalyst for a Manchester United counter-attack and the end of the weekly quadruple questions.

This is Klopp’s way. Risk all to win. The rewards over nine years have been plentiful, the improbable comebacks and last-gasp victories too regular to be freakish.

The critical difference at Old Trafford is that Klopp faced an opponent compelled to gamble just as much as he would in the same circumstan­ces. Liverpool took some of their own punishment as United’s all-or-nothing efforts to save themselves yielded an emotional triumph.

Love or loathe the sentimenta­lity around Klopp’s farewell, the feast for the senses is undeniable. What separates Klopp’s Liverpool from Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City is there are always two teams on the pitch when the German is in charge.

Where City are all about full control and disengagin­g the opponent, minimising risk with their shortpassi­ng, Klopp’s strategy gives hope to those courageous enough to take him on.

It means one or even two-goal leads which may, in retrospect, have seemed the foundation for a comfortabl­e Liverpool win never felt such in the heat of battle.

Time will tell if Klopp’s replacemen­t advances or regresses the squad’s developmen­t by seeking to reduce the possibilit­y of several fixtures of such carnage per season.

Usually, Liverpool have the firepower to overwhelm those who fancy going toe-to-toe in a pinball

game. Not this time. In the charged aftermath of such an epic contest, there is a danger of microanaly­sis.

Sometimes, events are barmy enough to defy logic. The difference between a trip to Wembley and deflating defeat can be a single misplaced pass, mistimed tackle and ability or failure to apply an accurate finish. When he rewatches

this game before the return to Old Trafford on April 7, Klopp will point to a dozen such moments, attacking players who usually deliver from muscle memory seemingly cramping up when a two-goal lead was there for the taking.

Defeat will sting for 24 hours, but Klopp will believe the psychologi­cal recovery will be swift, aided by

the internatio­nal break. Two more Wembley trips for Liverpool would have been a welcome distractio­n, but a distractio­n nonetheles­s in the Premier League and Europa League pursuit.

There was no desire for Klopp to ease the fixture congestion. But with a treble still to play for, there is still a chance for a trophy pile-up.