Coach Jurgen Klopp had an emotional farewell to Liverpool fans at Anfield, in his last match as captain of The Kop.
The German coach is about to bring the curtain down on his nine-year reign on Merseyside after the final Premier League match of the season against Wolves. He confirmed that Liverpool is a great club when he won the team’s first Premier League title in 30 years in 2020, a year after leading the team to Champions League glory.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup and League Cup during his time at Anfield. The charismatic 56-year-old has a strong bond with Liverpudlians who love his passionate personality and this is reflected in the hugs he exchanges with staff while waiting waiting to play in the tunnel on Sunday.
When he took the field, Klopp received a standing ovation from Liverpool fans, who used the cards to create a “Jurgen” mosaic, with many scarves bearing his image.
Fans held up heart-shaped cards in the colors of the German flag and Klopp stood silently as supporters sang You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Jurgen Klopp told the Anfield audience: “I was very surprised. I thought I was falling into pieces but that wasn’t the case. I’m so happy for all of you, the atmosphere, the match, being part of this family and about us, how we celebrate this. Thank you very much!
“Thanks for ignoring my request not to sing the song for six weeks!” (The crowd starts singing his song and Klopp smiles and pauses his speech).
“For whatever reason, this breakup doesn’t feel like an ending. It just feels like a start. Because today I see a team playing full of talent, full of youth, full of creativity, full of desire, full of greed.”
“It’s part of development, that’s what you need. During this time I realized many things. People tell me that I have turned them from doubters into believers. That’s not right. Trust is a positive action, you must do it yourself. I just said we have to do it, you did it.”
When Klopp made the shock announcement of his decision to leave in January, his team was chasing a quadruple target. Liverpool won the League Cup final against Chelsea in February, but were eliminated from the FA Cup by Manchester United and the Europa League at Atalanta.
Their Premier League title race is also fading fast but they are guaranteed to finish third, giving them a place in next season’s Champions League.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk expressed his regret when saying goodbye to his German teacher: “I don’t know what to say, this is a very emotional day. Liverpool is Liverpool. It’s so special and you see it today. Of course, it’s always a difficult afternoon for everyone for different reasons.”
“From today I am one of you and I always believe in you,” Klopp said through tears. I’m still a believer, 100 percent. I have seen a lot of people cry and it will happen to me tonight because I will miss everyone, that’s clear, but change is also good and you never know what will happen but if you step into it with the right energy and everything will be fine, fine because the basics are 100% there.”
Defender Andy Robertson said: “We can’t thank Jurgen Klopp enough and all the players could do today was try to win for him and we did that to get him appeared on the field in high form.
“We wanted to send him off like we did but of course a new era is coming to us. We are all excited and we should be. We need to stay on board. We will be ready to work with the new coach and help him as much as possible. This club demands success. We are very excited about the new challenge.”
Contrary to the players who regret Klopp’s departure, Salah doesn’t seem to feel that way. During the farewell ceremony for coach Jurgen Klopp, he pointed the camera at Salah many times and the images showed the Egyptian star ignoring and not saying a word to the teacher who made his name.
