Sunday World (Ireland)

No parade necessary for Jurgen

- By STAFF REPORTER

JURGEN Klopp has insisted he is not worried about what his legacy at Liverpool might be – but he wants to end the season by giving fans something more to celebrate.

As Klopp goes into the final weeks of his reign, having announced he will step down at the end of the season, Liverpool remain locked in a tight three-way fight at the top of the Premier League.

This season’s Carabao Cup is already in the cabinet, but their Europa League hopes took a potentiall­y fatal blow in Thursday’s 3-0 home defeat against Atalanta in the first leg of their quarter-final tie – something Klopp wants to turn into a positive.

“For me, I’ve had enough parades and parties, it was never about that and it will never be [about that], but I would love to give the people the opportunit­y to celebrate something special and I think it would be right as well,” Klopp said.

“I’m still happy we are still in that fight. I want to make sure we really go for it. Sometimes life and football are the same – you need a proper smash to realise why you do what you do and we got that smash and we will use it.”

But asked what it would mean for his legacy,

Klopp added: “I don’t care ... would that make me a great manager? I never considered myself a great manager. Never, ever in my life.

“What’s important is that the Liverpool people are happy with what we did that’s the only important thing.

“On my gravestone, I don’t want, ‘here is one of the most successful managers on the planet’, you are still lying three feet under. No, not for me. I want to be remembered as somebody who helped people through life.”

Klopp, 56, plans a break from football. “There’s a few things (Klopp’s wife) Ulla told me – I have to learn cooking and a dance class,” he said.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Ireland