‘You have to reflect, it has been exceptional’: Jurgen Klopp urges his Liverpool players to savour the moment they lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield on Wednesday
- Jurgen Klopp urged his squad to savour moment they lift Premier League trophy
- It is set to be a hugely emotional night at Anfield despite having no fans there
- The Liverpool boss said squad will take picture with all four trophies they’ve won
Jurgen Klopp has urged his squad to savour every moment of a golden period in Liverpool’s history as he prepares to lift the Premier League trophy.
Though the circumstances are unlike anything anyone could have envisaged, with no supporters being inside the stadium, it will still be a hugely emotional night for Klopp, who says the full extent of their achievement this season will only sink in around the presentation ceremony.
The Premier League represents the end of a 30-year crusade to become England’s top team again but the past 15 months have been unprecedented for Liverpool, as they began a winning spree with the Champions League and then added the European Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Jurgen Klopp has urged Liverpool squad to savour the moment they lift Premier League trophy
The Reds charged to their first ever Premier League title and will lift the trophy on Wednesday
Liverpool might look like a team that can keep on winning trophies for the next couple of years but nothing can be taken for granted and that is why Klopp has urged his group to understand what they have accomplished – and wants to commission a club photographic with all four trophies.
‘In the moment, when I spoke about the last 13 or 14 months, it was for sure the most exceptional and successful year of my career, said Klopp. ‘Being champion of Europe, England and the world, it doesn’t happen too often.
‘So I think it makes sense that we take a picture with all four trophies because I don’t think there are a lot of pictures in existence where a club has all four of these trophies. We will do that 100 per cent and rightly so.
‘It’s not that I had to say it to them – but I have mentioned it. This is absolutely special. This is the moment, pretty much where you talk about things after a season, but this is the moment that you really have to cherish. You have to appreciate it and reflect, 100 per cent, it has been exceptional.
The Liverpool boss hailed to club’s successful couple seasons and praised the ‘hard work’
‘The last 13 or 14 months of this team, it didn’t start then, it started before then but we won all that since then so that makes it really, really special. But all the things in the one-and-a-half to two years before were really exceptional. We just didn’t get the reward.
It goes to show, if you are good and you work hard, which we have obviously done and you put in all you can, there is a chance. It doesn’t mean you can get it as we saw the year before, but there is a chance. We were ready to work for this chance and, in the end, the boys made it happen.’
There will be some symmetry with Liverpool’s last title triumph in 1990 this evening as Jordan Henderson will replicate Alan Hansen in lifting the prize after missing the ceremonial match through injury. Liverpool won that fixture against Derby 1-0 and Klopp would settle for the same score.
Klopp was serene when he thinking about the way this collision with Chelsea will go and says there can be no comparison to how he felt before Liverpool faced Tottenham in Madrid last June, needing to win to lift the Champions League.
Klopp said he’s had ‘good moments’ since the led the Merseyside club to first Premier League
‘I had some good moments since we won the Premier League, being reflective and happy about how big of a prize it is but the difference could not be bigger,’ said Klopp. ‘Before the Champions League final I had massive pressure that it was really important.
‘I always thought it would be much nicer winning a Premier League early than going into a Champions League where everything goes into an all-or-nothing point. Winning the league seven games before a season ends is incredible
‘It is 100 percent the moment when we get the trophy. That is what it is all about. It is one of the big stories in football history. If someone had a chance to decide to become champion in any country this year, which team would you want to be to have it special, make your choice?
‘The choice would have been Liverpool FC because it was the one everyone wanted to be part of, and we are lucky to be part of it. I appreciate that a lot. It is a really big one. It is not that other championships will ever be forgotten, but this one no-one will forget.’