‘The people showed everything to me and it’s wonderful. I love it’
JURGEN KLOPP hailed a ‘wonderful afternoon’ and expressed his gratitude to Liverpool fans and friends across the football industry who sent him well-wishes following his announcement that he will step down at the end of the season.
The Reds beat Norwich 5-2 to secure safe passage into the fifth round of the FA Cup, where they will play Southampton or Watford, with goals from five different scorers — Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch. And Klopp said he was touched by the warm applause he received at full time, with all four corners of Anfield chanting his name and singing, ‘I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red’. The manager said: ‘I did not ask for that, the atmosphere today.
‘The people obviously showed everything to me and it’s wonderful and I love it. It’s absolutely great but it’s unnecessary because I know about it but I will not say don’t do it, people can do what they want and I mean it.
‘We need atmosphere on the pitch and for that we need the crowd, don’t just think about the manager — I’m really sorry that I had to mention it but that’s how it is and now we just have to forget it for a while and just go for each opponent like crazy and that’s what we want to do. ‘My job is to pull myself together. I received all the messages people sent, I am not made of wood. I said not too long ago, don’t sing my song during the game — people stopped listening to me!
‘It is the first game after (the announcement), I am not here to tell the people what they have to do. ‘We play Wednesday again. The manager is leaving at the end of the season, now do everything to make it uncomfortable for Chelsea. (It was a) wonderful afternoon.’ Andy Robertson made his longawaited return after a dislocated shoulder, with the Scotland left back coming off the bench for his first appearance since October, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai also got minutes after minor injuries.
‘Like the rest of the world it was a bit of a shock when (the manager) told us all — nobody really knew where to look or what to do,’ said Robertson. ‘But you have to respect his decision, he’s thought long and hard about it, he’s not a rash person.
‘For what he’s done for this club we’ll all be forever grateful. He doesn’t want the fans singing his song but I think he’s going to lose that battle, unfortunately! The one thing he asked from us is that it has to be business as usual. Hopefully, that results in giving him the send-off that he truly deserves.’ Klopp’s old mate David Wagner, the Norwich boss, was one of very few to know about the Liverpool manager’s secret before Friday.
He added: ‘Liverpool deserved to win. Jurgen wanted to win, I wanted to win, and I lost like always! ‘No, I was not shocked (at the news). Everything we have spoken about is private. We should all respect what he has done. From the bottom of my heart, until the end of the season, I wish him the very best and that he can be as successful as he can be.’