If you're from within a few miles of Anfield, you probably don't like Boris Johnson.
From labelling Liverpool a "self-pity city" to claiming its residents are intent on "seeing themselves whenever possible as victims," there's been little to no liking for the outgoing UK Prime Minister from those on Merseyside for decades. And as manager of it's biggest football club and an adopted Liverpudlian, Jurgen Klopp isn't a fan either.
The Reds boss has never hidden his disdain for Johnson, who on Thursday finally announced that he's agreed to resign as leader of the Conservative party, bringing to an end his scandal-ridden tenure - at least when he actually leaves in the autumn.
With much of the country and even his soon-to-be former Downing Street colleagues celebrating the 58-year-old's demise, Klopp will likely be raising a glass as Liverpool prepare for their pre-season tour, having scalded the Tory chief on multiple occasions since arriving on Merseyside in October 2015.
A long-standing critic of Brexit and the nationalist politics Johnson revelled in, the German grouped 'Bojo' alongside none other than Donald Trump and Nigel Farage while speaking candidly on the Mid-Point Podcast last November, nearly two years on from Johnson's emphatic general election victory. "Obviously people with common sense are not needed – or used, at least – in this time," Klopp began, lamenting the current state of global affairs.
"They should be, but what is the problem, the people we vote for or the whole system which gives us the opportunity to vote for these kinds of people? I really have to say that the last two elections, the first with Donald Trump and then with Boris Johnson, that's really a bad sign for the whole world, that something like this can happen.
"Because everybody knew beforehand that it would not work, but we still let it happen as a society. I cannot believe that. But [Trump] is now gone, the other one [Johnson] struggles still. It's incredible. We have to find a system where we can bring people in the position to sort all our problems, or help us with sorting the problems, who are the best possible people and not the most funny or the weirdest haircut or whatever, you have to have the right people in that."
"[We should] not [be] voting for them and accepting for this specific amount of time that they are there now, and you look at it and go 'oh my god, that’s not funny anymore'. Why do we let people like Farage and Johnson lead any kind of group of people in any direction? And the day after [a problem] happens, they disappear – and one of them comes back! How can we forget? It's like 'where has he been?', that's absolutely insane. Then we sit here and think 'it's not that bad'."
Certainly the fiercest and most complex issue of both Klopp and Johnson's respective reigns was Covid-19, quickly proving to be a fatal and divisive subject across all walks of life. Elite-level football was one of the fortunate industries to make a swift return to relative normality in the UK, but it didn't stop Klopp from blasting Johnson and co for their hapless handling of the pandemic.
Upon the Reds' return to action in June 2020, their manager was far less concerned about the prospect of Liverpool's impending league title being declared null and void - like throughout English football's lower reaches - than the horrifying mortality rate in Britain. "I was not worried for one second that the Government could cost us the title because I was worried about the numbers who were dying – and I'm still worried," Klopp admitted.
"I didn't vote for this Government. This Government was the choice of other people. And the problem I had was that I got the news from England and the news from Germany. If aliens looked at us both from the outside, they would think we came from two different planets."
Critical of Downing Street's rudderless reaction to dealing with the coronavirus, Klopp and Johnson were at odds again two years later. It came about after some Liverpool supporters infamously booed the national anthem ahead of this season's prestigious FA Cup final, which the Reds won after extra-time and penalties against Chelsea.
In response to the jeers, the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip's official spokesperson stated there's never any valid reason to boo 'God Save the Queen', declaring: "Obviously the events over the weekend, it was a great shame that as we were making 150 years of the FA Cup that brings people together that a small minority chose to act in that way."
The Reds head honcho - unsurprisingly - disagreed, saying: "Of course I have thoughts but I think in these situations it's best to ask the question: why does it happen? They wouldn't do if there was no reason. I've not been here long enough to understand the reason for it - it's for sure something historical - and that's probably questions you can answer much better than I could ever. The majority of our supporters are wonderful people. Really smart, go through lows and highs. They wouldn't do it without a reason."
Klopp was recently urged to begin a political career by ex- Labour spokesperson Alistair Campbell, but it sounds like the 55-year-old won't be coming face-to-face with Johnson any time soon. "I will never [go into politics]," Klopp affirmed in 2019. "Because I have too much common sense that I couldn't survive in that business."
Well Jurgen, Boris hasn't survived either.
