You have to feel sorry for Mauricio Pochettino… three weeks of planning disappeared in 60 seconds

I felt for Mauricio Pochettino watching that, how three weeks of preparation for a game can change in one minute of football. But I’m pleased for Jurgen Klopp and all those who had patience with him to really build something at Liverpool.

In the end it was a very English final but I think that was because the game was conditioned by what happened in the first minute. After the penalty it was very intense and very direct.

This is a reward for Liverpool for not pressuring Klopp during his four years.

Liverpool were awarded an early penalty for a handball by Moussa Sissoko (left)

You hear the words ‘project’ and ‘philosophy’ perhaps now more in English football than you did in the past but it’s not enough just to talk about ‘having a project’ you have to defend it over time and that takes patience and courage.

Liverpool have developed an idea about the way they want to play and they have stuck with it. There is always an external debate when no trophies are won and you can never stop that. But it’s the internal debate that matters. Klopp has been left alone to build this success.

His style of football leaves nobody indifferent. I like it a lot. It requires an enormous amount of work. Playing with that intensity — it doesn’t just fall out of the sky, you have to work on it and refine it every day. He has made Liverpool so competitive.

Well done to English football for producing two finalists and well done to both clubs for keeping faith with their managers’ projects — the reward for Liverpool was Sunday’s victory parade.

Mohamed Salah scored from the spot to put Liverpool ahead in just the second minute