His record - two cups within six months of his appointment, a domestic treble in his first full season, a second title in 2005 and reaching the last 16 of the Champions League - set the context for a rueful but masterfully understated parting comment: "I'm sure those people who look at the facts will say that during a period of downsizing, I was reasonably successful".
The Brazilian had tormented City but Klopp, understated and commenting more about City's goal than the four Liverpool racked up, was correct afterwards when he pointed out it was a collective effort.
Many older executives from the era of managerial capitalism are understated in their comments, but "the new C.E.O.'s are more verbal, controlling and abrasive," he contends.
"We'll be working that out over the next couple of months," Mr. Boehner said in a comment that understated just how difficult that job was going to be.
But this year's installment, which began on May 21 and ends Oct. 8, has had a curious pendant, which in its own understated way has made a comment on that anti-Semitism that has passed largely if not entirely unnoticed in Germany.
And Neil Drysdale, the English trainer of Fusaichi Pegasus, commented in his understated way: "He got banged around a little bit, and there wasn't as much pace as we thought there would be.
But his comments were so understated -- there were no warnings to Saddam Hussein, no talk of his government as "evil" -- that he almost appeared to be orchestrating a role reversal with his usually more-cautious secretary of state, Colin L. Powell.
Reviewer Jennifer Vineyard from MTV News commented that Carey's spare and understated singing approach gave the song more power, which would not have been achieved if she had belted.
In his understated way, he was glowing, but he prefaced his comments by saying, "You know, Governor, this has to be your decision.
That reticence to comment — from a group of candidates who are rarely understated with one another — may reflect a nervousness about how the story will ultimately play out.
