Jurgen Klopp acknowledges Liverpool’s unique success under his tenure and expresses confidence in the club’s future with its exceptional next generation of talent.
This sentiment comes on the heels of Liverpool’s thrilling 1-0 Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea, secured by Virgil van Dijk’s late heroics at Wembley on Sunday.
As Klopp prepares to depart after nearly nine years at the helm, he underscores the enduring importance of the Anfield faithful, whose unwavering support continues to define the club’s identity.
“That’s the one thing – it’s not a problem if a manager leaves, if these people would leave, our supporters, that would be a problem. As long as they are the way they are, Liverpool Football Club will be fine and that’s the most important thing.”
The absence of 11 senior players, which became 12 when Ryan Gravenberch was forced off with an ankle complaint early on, meant Liverpool had to turn to their Academy players with teenagers Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns along with 21-year-old Jarell Quansah all coming off the bench.
And Klopp said: “Age is not at all in our thought process in that moment. We knew who we would take, we knew we had to build a squad. Yesterday in training it was clear these are the boys we could take.
“We needed fresh legs. That was clear. You can always think about who do you take off, and it’s sometimes the wrong one. But it’s clear we had to make changes.
“The development of Bobby Clark. Oops. That’s really crazy, I have to say. The development of James McConnell is absolutely insane. Jayden Danns only recently joined us in first-team training and I loved him from first second, really special. He comes on today and could have scored two goals in a Carabao Cup final. It’s absolutely insane.
“The others kids were there who we could have brought on in (Lewis) Koumas and Trey (Nyoni), some we left at home like Kaide (Gordon). The way the experienced group involves them is pretty special. It was wonderful.”
Klopp also joked at spotting Dominik Szoboszlai and Darwin Nunez, who were among the injured players, joining in the post-match festivities.