Klopp looks ahead to his penultimate game as Liverpool boss against Aston Villa

Just wanted supporter or pundit for Champions League final. Supporter or pundit for Champions League final. Dalton back at Wembley. Supporter Yeah yeah no pundit. I praise to explain how to lose the tennis league final and you have trust to play a lot to win it apparently. No. Yeah really happy about that. Was really cool to watch and really nice to see. And for all the people I know, they’re still big, big achievement and nearly, but not India. Not 100% the same final in like 2013. But yeah, no nice, nice story. Is your penultimate game in charge, your last away game. And I suppose it brings back memories of some big away days that you’ve had. Particularly going back to Villa Park. For me, played a big key moment in your title winning season. Thank you very much. Let’s talk about that game and another night there, Villa. Now what’s going to remind you that one? Yes it did through a really special game, that game when we want to one because at half time we had a little situation in the dressing room and then we could we could calm it down and then we we turn the game around, which was really, really, really special. That’s when when you go for absolutely everything, when everything is on, on the edge, then these kind of things can happen as long as you settle as quick as possible. And then we turned around to really special goals. Salio with the hat, where pretty much, yeah, the foot was there, the other foot was there as well. So really dangerous. We really wanted it and the boys really wanted it. It was a very important one. Yeah, great feeling after the game. Absolutely. What’s the situation? You have to do with the little argument between players and two players actually. So. But you will not get the names from me. There’s no no problem. It was just a situation. It was like in that moment, it was not the situation, OK, that’s exactly how it should be to turn it around. So. But this group of players was really special. It meant so much and Bah Bah Bah and every things can happen when you work together for a lot especially, that’s normal and but yeah it worked out. As we sit here you can still win the title but obviously that oh could have, could have gone. Obviously we’re sitting playing full of a half 12 kick off and Arsenal got Manchester, Manchester United. Do you think you’ll have any kind of mood to deal with within the camp if if that is to happen, that you if they’re both lose? I, I, I, I thought, I thought, I thought I start I don’t know with the we cannot win it anymore. We don’t have to deal with. That’s what we actually not that we cannot win it but it’s not now #1 every morning on the priority list. So tell the boys. By the way we still have a chance. We all can read the table. We all see the situation. Do we expect them to lose CDs, lose 3 games? Three? Difficult to see that, but you never know and also has to lose 2 games. Difficult. So, but of course if they both play before us, of course we play Monday. So then let’s talk about that if they both lose and then we will see what we make this do with that. But I just don’t expect that. I think we have enough to do to play. We have the chance to go above 80 points again, like pretty much everything in life. You never should take things like this for granted and for that we need points. We need to win one of the two games at least. So these are things and as well as the next chance. So I saw them playing last night. Obviously they had to travel back now, stuff like this, so all these kind of things, but it’s the last home game of the season of Aston Villa. They want to have a good last home game because they play an incredible season. They qualify pretty likely for the Champions League, which is a big one. I’m not sure when will I was last time there this year, Conference League, next year, Champions League, when I was doing an incredible job there. Yeah, but we will give it a try, definitely. That’s OK. You know, you’ve got to avoid the yellow cards. Yeah, I know that already for long. Like when when did I get the second I look up, by the way, we could turn it around as well as I got only two yellow cards. I think a few of my colleagues got suspended, right? So I was calm over the years, obviously, but well, you need to be on the search line for the final day, don’t you? I don’t need to, but it would be cool, so I could do that. So I better not be from my side, but I I will try absolutely everything to not get involved in a in a kind of discussions. Thank you. I’m almost worried about asking a question after after what happened last week, you know exactly what it’s like to sustain a challenge for a Champions League place and go very far in a a European competition. So what do you think it says about the job that Unai Emery has done at Aston Villa this year to build that longevity into his side, to be able to do that? What did I do last week that you could be worried about that question you speak about SMB and Una Emery, you think about having a seven day break and you you mean I just give now on each question and answer and go for different people think incredible, incredible. So Una Emery is one of the best we have in that business, 100%. Wherever he was and success, sometimes the clubs were not ready to wait for it. Maybe if you look back probably these clubs would have made different decisions. I I know him for so long. I think when I’ve met him first time he was managed in Moscow if I’m right. So it wasn’t Russia. I’m pretty sure that time and that’s really long ago and he always had a clear idea Then he won plenty of times with Siri then he was really, really tricky for us. When we face them with, with the real stuff like this you always organize the team extremely, extremely well and so the job he’s doing is absolutely exceptional. And and we all, we all know how important it is for a club to qualify for the Champions League. How difficult it is to do that and that he probably very likely will do that. Yeah, it’s absolutely exceptional. All the work for and it’s been announced that obviously aside from your your farewells at Anfield next week you’re gonna have another audience with fans at the Liverpool Arena. How do you feel about having a an evening with Yogen club? I had a lot of evenings with Yogen Club. Yeah, it’s neither my idea nor nor am I involved in any kind of organization. So I I don’t think I even could organise tickets if I’m right. So but it’s fine. I don’t didn’t want that. But I’m not involved in that so I have no clue what happens. That night I said whatever people ask me to do in that perspective, I will do. If somebody wants me wherever as much as I can make it happen, I will make it happen. So and obviously it’s no problem to come a week after a few days, more than nine days of the seasons overcome back here. How I said if the people want that, I will be here. That’s no, no doubt. And I I I assume it will be probably good. I hope so. No pressure on the people to organize it but it would be nice if it could be a little bit funny. But I heard John Bishop is there, right? That’s a good chance that it will be funny. Yeah. Again, how refreshing and rewarding was it to see that intensity returned against Tottenham last week and and and that power that you’ve seen from Liverpool at their best this season? Yeah, for 70 ish minute that was a really good game. I liked it a lot. The other ride it was, was a good game. That’s what we needed, what we wanted, what the people deserve to see. Is it a lot different? Maybe. I think we spoke about that, but why we didn’t make it in history 4 weeks before? Why? Why they hadn’t? For different reasons. But that’s how it is. And if we are 100% honest, is that the season where we were the best team in the league? We had our moments. We played our best game again in in our history with Man City against Man City, but didn’t win it. It’s always it’s the small margins. If you win these kind of games, that can open up something. We didn’t win it and then in the first moment when it looks like we struggled slightly, we got really punished for it. Because it’s not not that the other teams play all the all the time really good, but in the moments where we played still look good or OK and created an awful lot of chances and didn’t score that that just went in the wrong direction. But that was really nice to see, you’re right was absolutely nice to see against a really strong opponent how strong they are. You saw immediately after we put the foot of the gas on it, boom, that’s it. And they were back in the game. And then. But I I must not worry it that these boys cannot play football anymore. This kind of football. I knew they can. Let’s just hope obviously that they can show it as well with me on the sideline as well. But, and that’s what we did and was enjoyed a lot, enjoyed the whole thing a lot. Harvey Elliott got a lot of the headlines last night, rightly so, and with justification. But it was also another eye-catching performance from from Cody Gathpo and he hasn’t always been able to nail down a regular starting place. But is it a sign of his growing maturity this season that his his contribution is increasing not just goals, but assists and and his general play as well? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great game both. I, I I don’t it’s not like this that I get you that I go back and think OK what did we all do wrong here and there. But if I if I regret one thing a little bit Harvey didn’t play often enough maybe because he was in a in a very intense in very important intense period generally a lot of injuries. He played really good. Was probably our best player right wing right midfield all these kind of things and everybody came back and here minutes there minutes. Then he didn’t start anymore, came on big impact, but that was, it’s really nice that that he could show that Cody, he knows that was for a while not in his best, in his best moment. We had a conversation there. It was not about, it was, you know, public what we spoke there about. But it helped him a lot because he could sort it a little bit. It’s just a problem. Can I speak in the first moment? Players not performing anymore to levels who expect him to do can speak immediately you can but how can I have an answer for a situation if I don’t understand it. So you have to try to to look a bit longer into it and wait for specific more when you try when I can give answers maybe that took to from my point for me too long as well. That’s maybe the case And then but when we after that talk he stepped really up and it’s really it’s really good to see how basically strong is how the good football lazy and lazy. Right wing. Left left wing especially and and and and center. Smart again. Full of confidence physical strength. Good moment. Good for him. Good for us. Hi. Were you surprised he wasn’t on the Premier League play with the shortlist. I didn’t. I don’t know. The Premier League play of the season, Shortlist. How, how short is that list? Sorry. OK Am I surprised? Yeah, it was probably every year there. Was he? Yeah. Yes, I’m surprised. There’s been a bit of speculation at Darwin’s Future this week. There’s what? But what’s the start? There’s a bit of a there’s no speculation, and that must be an external speculation because I don’t know about it, because I don’t know about it. But maybe I’m not involved in that anymore. There’s no, there’s no speculation right now. It’s just a situation we are in. And yes, Darvin was definitely not happy missing that chance. He’s he’s he’s an unlucky of, let me say boss. And because I could have changed now, probably unlucky in so many situations where he’s doing everything right and then the the ball goes still not in and that’s really tough for a young man. It’s really tough. He knows about expectations. He has big expectations on himself. That’s tough and you have to go through this. There’s no alternatives and going through it and that’s what he’s doing right now. We try to help him with all we can with everything we can, but in the end you have to go through it. Everybody had to go through this and there’s this part of a footballer career. That’s all. His problem is that he’s that good that he is constantly in these moments and that’s so obviously if he if he’s a little bit less good, then he will not have chances and people just say it’s not great because is that good. He is in his moments where he can finish it off and now he’s not finishing off in the moment. How many goals did he score or 1810 and he, I think he’s not too bad with numbers as well, right? Does anybody know 1811? They’re not bad numbers obviously. So it’s just because of his qualities, constant situations and everybody know. Again, again, so and because of our situation as a team where we had chance and didn’t score that unfortunately if somebody else would score in that moment, it wouldn’t have felt that bad. That’s the situation. But again, nobody likes it, but it’s part of of a career. That’s it. Oh, it’s just it’s no, it’s just like that that we have to We play once a week and we just look at who looks in the best moment and Joel is one of them. This is like it’s how it is and we don’t play with threes and a half’s or whatever. So it means then you have to make a decision and Joel is training really well and we have a lot of training sessions and really well doesn’t mean EBO Otroy wouldn’t train well, but Joel’s doing really well and that’s that’s how it is and that’s why I make these kind of decisions. So that’s the best situation I can have. I just sit there and look at it and I saw a lot of football in my life. So I can see if somebody, I think if it if you have the chance to make that decision that you can really decide on this high level, OK, it was a little bit better and a better moment then you do it. That’s what you do with no rotation necessary because then the others have to play anyway or you have to mix it up anyway. But that’s not necessary now. That’s why he played. Yes, he pushed himself in a really, really good situation. That’s true. And I think the the game just justify the decision I he looked he was really good in that game as well and that’s against Sean. Later on Richardson it was a different situation but that has more to do with the with the passes they got. But again, very, very, very talented player. Really, really good. Just with Harvey, with the forms in. Do you think he should be. Oh, if it would help Harvey, Whatever I say, I would say. But you you just start a discussion in public and then people will say what does he want to do? As you’re as an officer and you have to feel bad. But they did nothing wrong. But some people will find a reason why should Harvey. I’ll be there. Maybe the boys read it and he feels bad. It’s a great moment. If somebody wants to pick him, he has everything he needs. You can pack a suitcase in an in an instant, so it’s not a problem. But I will not be part of that discussion.