CLINCH PERFECT
Klopp embraces the positive with stars KOP KIDS LOSE OUT Owners are embroiled in cheat row Jur-gonna learn a lot
Simon Mullock
KOP kid Sepp van den Berg reckons Liverpool’s tyros get all the love they need from Jurgen Klopp – thanks to his habit of giving them all a cuddle.
The Liverpool boss has been hammered for turning his back on the FA Cup after sending a team of teenagers out to face Shrewsbury in a fourth-round replay on Wednesday night.
Warmth
Under-23s coach Neil Critchley took the reigns – while Klopp and the rest of his title-chasing squad enjoyed a winter break.
But Van den Berg reckons Klopp makes the youngsters coming through the ranks at Anfield feel just as important as Mo Salah,
Virgil van Dijk and Co.
Van den Berg (right), the 18-year-old Dutch centre-back who made only his fourth senior appearance in the
1-0 victory which sent Liverpool through to face
Chelsea, said:
“The warmth you feel as a young player at
Liverpool is so special.
“At other clubs you arrive and people will say ‘good morning’ or shake hands. manager! Jurgen Klopp gives you a hug – and it’s those special little things that made all the young players feel appreciated and valued.
“That kind of warmth from the manager gives us the hope that we are all on the path to the Liverpool first team.”
Van den Berg faced criticism for moving away from Holland at such a young age after his switch to Merseyside from PEC Zwolle for £1.3million in January 2018.
But his mind was made up once he met Klopp for the first time. He said: “I had the chance to go to Bayern Munich, PSV Eindhoven or Liverpool.
“I was amazed that such big clubs wanted to sign me and I thought PSV Eindhoven was a brilliant option for me because I have been a fan from a young age.
“But once Liverpool came for me, I knew where I would go because I can only describe my feelings for the club as mega.
“It is such a big club – but at the same time it feels like a family club. a week. He lets me train and play against Mo Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane.that is something I could only have dreamt of in the past.
“These guys really belong to the very best attackers on this globe.
“Of course it is hard. But when you are up against them every week and you learn some valuable lessons then you only get better and stronger.”
The young Dutchman believes his Anfield peer group have proved by beating Everton and Shrewsbury in the Cup that the future is as promising as the present for Liverpool.
Proud
He added: “There is a massive amount of talent in this age group.
“I don’t want to say we have now arrived on the big scene because every one of us knows that we still have a mountain to climb.
“But the average age of the team against Shrewsbury was 19.
“We are massively proud of what we achieved on the night and we all talked about it afterwards.
“The topic of our conversations was that we all want to get into the first team together one day.”
LIVERPOOL’S exciting kids have missed out on a lucrative FA Cup bonus.
Neil Critchley’s Under-23s beat League One Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday in front of more than 50,000 to earn a fifth-round trip to Chelsea.
But there will be no financial reward because the club has decreed that there will be no extra payments for success in the FA or Carabao Cup.
Winning the Premier League will see the firstteam squad share a £4million bonus while the Champions League triumph saw Liverpool’s players bank more than £7m between them.
It proves that the domestic cups aren’t valued as highly by club owners Fenway Sports Group.
Simon Mullock
LIVERPOOL may have escaped an FA charge over allegations that they hacked into Manchester City’s scouting database – but the club’s American owners have also found themselves at the centre of a cheating storm in baseball.
Fenway Sports Group, the company that saved the Merseysiders from administration in 2010, have recently sacked Alex Cora as manager of the Boston Red Sox after he was found guilty of breaking one of the sport’s most sacred rules during a previous role with the Houston Astros.
Cora was exposed for “sign stealing” – a process which involves illegally using film cameras to decipher the complex use of hand signals being made by opposition coaches to give players on-field tactical advice.
Houston were fined $5million
(£3.88m) and had restrictions placed on their draft picks for the next two seasons.
And MLB are now under pressure to strip the club of the two World Series titles they won under Cora.
FSG sacked Cora (above) when the punishment was handed down – but the authorities are now investigating claims that the 44-year-old Puerto Rican also stole signs electronically when he led the Red Sox to the World Series last year.
Liverpool were alleged to have paid City £1million in 2013 after it was found that members of the club’s scouting team, who had previously been employed by the Blues, had accessed the scouting system used at the Etihad.
The FA concluded on Friday that they will not be looking into the matter further after gathering information from both clubs.
A Jurgen Klopp masterclass has been put in place to teach the next generation of top coaches.
Ex-liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt has revealed how the Kop boss is held up as a paragon of management virtue by the people running UEFA Pro-licence courses across Europe.
Kuyt, Feyenoord’s youth team coach, said: “When I was on the pro-licence course we looked at Jurgen’s incredible eye for detail.
“His precision for preparation for games is unbelievable. We discussed Klopp’s idea of organising a practise game before the Champions League final against Tottenham.
“Jurgen asked for a game against Benfica and he asked them to play in the same style as Spurs.”