Via Liverpool.com
Liverpool's 'brain’ parted ways with the club long before Jürgen Klopp's emotional farewell.
Klopp was given a tear-jerking send-off at Anfield last Sunday after the 2-0 win over Wolves.
His departure was preceded by another pivotal figure at Anfield, who played a crucial role in Liverpool's success but left without any sort of fanfare.
Željko Buvač was Klopp's assistant and long-time friend for decades.
The Bosnian, a former team-mate of Klopp’s, became his assistant coach at Mainz over a seven-year spell.
When the ‘heavy metal’ manager took over at Borussia Dortmund in 2008, Buvač was there as his right-hand man
It was no shock that after Klopp’s appointment at Anfield in October 2015, Buvač followed him as a member of his coaching staff once again
Klopp openly heaped praise on Buvač, highlighting his importance by describing him as the "brain" behind their operation, while he considered himself the "heart".
They slowly transformed Liverpool into a European powerhouse, becoming Champions League finalists in the 2017/18 season
But weeks before that final, just as the team was gearing up for a crucial semi-final second-leg against Roma, Buvač abruptly took leave for "personal reasons".
Initially thought to be a temporary absence, it turned out to be the end of his 17-year partnership with Klopp
The players were understandably left bewildered by Buvač's sudden departure, with no explanation provided
Firmino, in his 2023 book 'Si Senor: My Liverpool Years', revealed there had been no contact “to this day” and that he never questioned Klopp about the incident.
Firmino said
“Klopp's right-hand man, Željko was the one who actively participated in training, organizing everything and leading sessions. His departure in 2018 was a bit strange for all of us; nobody understood what happened."
Pep Lijnders, another respected figure in Klopp's coaching staff set to leave this summer, stepped up as assistant after Buvač's exit
German journalist Raphael Honigstein, who also wrote Jürgen Klopp's biography.
Honigstein pointed to Lijnders’ growing influence as a catalyst, stating: "The Liverpool [staff] had noticed that the notoriously wordless [Buvač] had switched from monosyllables to zero-syllables in recent months."
"Buvač looked as if he would not have been happy with the increasing influence of fourth assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders.
“The laid-back Dutchman had been very popular with the players." He went on to say: "The relationship between Buvač and Klopp has survived, both just could not work together anymore."
When asked if he congratulated Klopp after Liverpool's league victory by Nobel,
Buvač admitted: "I didn't. I was happy for Liverpool, for the fans, for the players. But I didn't."
Buvac added:
"It felt like I've been the manager for all those 17 years. I did the job of a manager, except speaking in public and giving interviews.
"Apart from that, I had all the functions and tried to influence my team as much as I could to help them succeed.
“But I didn't need that kind of attention. I don't want to be a manager now. If Barcelona calls me then of course, I'll think about it but otherwise no."
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