28 January 2024 , 18:57
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Jurgen Klopp confessed he had to "pull himself together" after an outpouring of emotion at Anfield just two days after the Liverpool boss announced his imminent exit.
The German confirmed on Friday that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. The bombshell statement came as a massive shock and he felt the love from the club's fans during the commanding 5-2 FA Cup win over Norwich City on Sunday.
As per usual the Kop sang "You’ll Never Walk Alone" before kick-off but then followed it up with a first-minute rendition of "I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red" with the German having to keep a lid on his emotions.
He confessed: "It is [emotional] but my job is to… OK, it’s not always easy but I have to pull myself together and I received all the messages the people sent, I’m not made of wood so I get all of these. I said not too long ago, ‘Don’t sing the song during the game’ – people obviously stopped already listening to me, that’s good!
"But it’s fine, we won the game, we scored after that, so the reason for being superstitious is done in that case and it was great, and it’s the first game after that and I am not here to tell the people what to do.
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"It’s just that we play on Wednesday again and if we could then ignore for 95 or 100 minutes that the manager is leaving at the end of the season and just do everything to make it as uncomfortable for Chelsea as possible that would be great. And I know the people know that as well so I actually don’t have to say it. But it was a wonderful afternoon in all parts of it."
Jurgen Klopp received a special reception from the Anfield crowdCurtis Jones, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota were among those to notch as Liverpool made light work of their Championship opponents. The German maintains he doesn't want his exit to distract from the team's ambitions this season.
Liverpool remain on course for four trophies having recovered impressively from a difficult year last season. The Reds sit top of the Premier League and recently advanced into the Carabao Cup final. They're among the big hitters still in the FA Cup and are into the knockout stages of the Europa League.