Juergen Klopp on Sunday hailed Liverpool’s League Cup final triumph against Chelsea as the “most special” trophy of his career as the German learned he can win with kids.
Virgil van Dijk clinched Liverpool’s 1-0 win with a dramatic header two minutes from the end of extra-time at Wembley.
The club’s 10th League Cup triumph was especially sweet for Klopp as it came during an injury-hit period for his club that forced him to field a remarkably inexperienced team.
Photo: Reuters
The Reds boss started with 20-year-olds Conor Bradley and Harvey Elliott in his side and brought on Bobby Clark (19), James McConnell (19), Jayden Danns (18) and Jarell Quansah (21) from the bench.
Injuries had deprived Klopp of Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez, Alisson Becker and Joel Matip among others, while Ryan Gravenberch was stretchered off in the first half.
In the circumstances, Klopp ranked the seventh major trophy of his nine-year Liverpool reign as the most memorable of his career.
“In more than 20 years it is easily the most special trophy I have ever won. It is absolutely exceptional,” he said.
“Sometimes people ask me if I’m proud of things and it’s really tricky, I wish I could feel pride more often, but tonight is an overwhelming feeling,” he said. “I was proud of everyone involved in everything here. I was proud of our academy, I was proud of my coaches, I was proud of so many things. It was completely overwhelming.”
Van Dijk earlier had a goal controversially disallowed by video assistant referee, but the Dutch defender pounced to nod home with just two minutes left.
It was Liverpool’s first trophy following Klopp’s bombshell announcement that he will step down at the end of this season.
“What happened here today is absolutely insane. These things are not possible besides a team, squad, academy full of character,” Klopp said. “The craziest thing is we deserved it. I couldn’t be prouder of them. Wow. It was really cool. I’m sure we brought on all the kids. We needed fresh legs. They were very young, but they did the job.”
Former Liverpool defender Alan Hansen famously criticized Alex Ferguson’s decision to blood a host of Manchester United youngsters, including David Beckham, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville, by saying “you can’t win anything with kids.”
It was a turn of phrase that came back to bite Hansen as United’s kids dominated the Premier League.
Klopp had never heard Hansen’s quote until the aftermath of Sunday’s victory, when it struck a chord with the emotional German.
“I got told there is an English phrase you don’t win trophies with kids. I never knew that,” he said. “I loved it. Can you create stories in football that never happened before? It is so difficult. If you can find any story about a group of academy kids coming on against a top team like Chelsea and winning, it’s incredible.”
Klopp will hope Liverpool’s first silverware since the 2022 FA Cup will be the springboard for an incredible farewell tour. Quadruple-chasing Liverpool sit top of the Premier League, face Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round tomorrow and take on Sparta Prague in the Europa League last 16.
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