Jurgen Klopp admitted he was amazed at the late run of the Premier League form in Liverpool, which saw the Reds dock in the Champions League on the last day of the season.
What did Jurgen Klopp say?
Sadio Mane’s double propelled Jurgen Klopp’s men to third in the standings on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, ensuring that the mixed campaign for the defending champions ended on top. While that late surge took its toll on Merseyside, the manager was pleasantly surprised by what he saw in the final stretch of 2020-21. Jurgen said outstanding, the best he could dream of, they wanted this feeling, this game, this atmosphere. Finishing the season in third is incredible, he can’t believe the boys’ merit, he can’t believe how things have turned out in the last few weeks, incredible. Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams are both cut and sewn, Williams hasn’t trained for three days, Gini Wijnaldum is leaving the club and they all love him to the last detail. Klopp says they will miss him so much, with football it’s okay people leave, but Klopp will miss him. Jurgen also had kind words for his opposite number on Sunday, as Palace boss Roy Hodgson drew a curtain on his long, retired career on the bench.
A little about the topic
While on the surface the third place may seem like a consolation prize for last year’s runaway champions, at one point in the season Liverpool feared a much more modest finish on their defense. A terrible run of injuries, especially on the defensive, where the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip were ruled out with serious physical problems, laid a big dent in their aspirations in the Premier League, and as soon as early March Jurgen’s accusations languished in eighth place. But they have retaliated with eight wins and two draws in their last 10 league matches to return to the rivalry, finally sealing Champions League football at the expense of Leicester City as FA Cup winners descend to Tottenham.