“A true legend of this club.”
Jurgen Klopp has paid a heartfelt tribute to former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier, who passed away at the age of 73 on Monday 14th December.
The current Liverpool boss was speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League clash with league leaders Tottenham, when he was asked to speak about any memories he has of meeting Houllier.
“Only the best,” Klopp said of the few times he met Houllier, who won a cup treble with Liverpool in 2001.
“[I] met him a few times. Since I am at Liverpool, we were in contact. He texted a lot of times.
“Very, very supportive man. A great, great coach and an even better human being. A very warm personality.
“Big miss for his family and his friends and for us, for Liverpool, as well. A true legend of this club.”
Jurgen Klopp has paid a classy tribute to Liverpool legend Gerard Houllier following the sad news of his death yesterday 🙏 pic.twitter.com/26Yo2fV8CL
— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) December 15, 2020
Tributes have been flooding in for Houllier, who had a profound impact on the game of football. From his time spent with the French national team set-up, to his trophy-laden success with Liverpool, to winning back to back titles with Lyon, he left a marker everywhere he went.
In more recent years, Houllier was involved in Red Bull’s expansion into football.
RB Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch spoke emotionally about Hollier’s passing, saying: “He was a really good friend of mine. I met him when I interviewed for the NY Red Bulls. Right away I could sense his warmth and his belief in me.”
Beautiful words from RB Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch on the passing of Gérard Houllier, who had been the head of global football for Red Bull since 2012.
RIP ❤️pic.twitter.com/BkC2uBZRtk
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) December 14, 2020
