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Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp said that he had to pull himself together during his side's 5-2 win over Norwich City, following an outpouring of emotions from home fans.
The Reds secured an emphatic win over the Canaries on Sunday, January 28, to advance to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Ahead of kick-off, Liverpool supporters sang "You'll Never Walk Alone," as they do ahead of every home match, and followed it up with "I'm so glad Jurgen is a Red."
The emotional tribute comes in the wake of Klopp's announcement that he will be stepping down from his role as Liverpool head coach at the end of the 2023-24 season.
The German tactician announced his decision on Friday morning and as expected, Liverpool fans poured out their emotions during their club's home game at Anfield.
During a post-match press conference, Klopp said (via The Mirror):
"It is [emotional] but my job is to… OK, it’s not always easy but I have to pull myself together and I received all the messages the people sent, I’m not made of wood so I get all of these. I said not too long ago, ‘Don’t sing the song during the game’ – people obviously stopped already listening to me, that’s good!"
"But it’s fine, we won the game, we scored after that, so the reason for being superstitious is done in that case and it was great, and it’s the first game after that and I am not here to tell the people what to do."
Klopp added:
"Just that we play on Wednesday again and if we could then ignore for 95 or 100 minutes that the manager is leaving at the end of the season and just do everything to make it as uncomfortable for Chelsea as possible that would be great. And I know the people know that as well so I actually don’t have to say it. But it was a wonderful afternoon in all parts of it."
How did Liverpool perform against Norwich City?
The Reds' brilliant 2023-24 continued as they secured yet another win at Anfield and booked their place in FA Cup fifth round.
Goals from Curtis Jones (16'), Darwin Nunez (28'), Diogo Jota (53'), Virgil van Djik (63') and a second-half stoppage-time goal from Ryan Gravenberch were enough to secure a win for the Reds. Norwich scored twice as well, through Ben Gibson (22') and Borja Sainz (69').
Liverpool managed 73% possession during the game, while registering 10 shots on target, compared to Norwich City's five.
