Liverpool’s season has become about giving Jurgen Klopp the send-off he deserves, and that message was clear to the squad once the shocking nature of his announcement started to pass.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has only known Klopp as his manager as a professional player, the German handed him his debut and helped mould him into the world-class player he is today.
The right-back acknowledged Klopp’s announcement in January was a “complete surprise to all of us,” with none of them having “seen it coming” – much like the rest of us!
Alexander-Arnold went on to say it “shook up the dressing room for a couple of hours,” before revealing the message that came from the squad in the wake of the news.
“One of the messages that us players spoke about straight away, as soon as it happened, was he’s done so much for us,” Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports before the win over Brighton.
“Whether it’s bringing us in, developing us or bringing us through the academy, whatever the journey, we have all ended up together, and it is because of him.
“It is because of how well he manages us, and he wants us in the team and in and around it,” he continued. “We all owe something to the manager, no matter what, and we all just want to give him the best send-off possible.
“We spoke about that, we said, ‘it’s what he deserves, we can use it as more motivation’. It’s kind of like the last dance, and we go out there and we give it everything and try and do it for the manager.”
No one would deserve to go out on the ultimate high more than Klopp, his influence and impact at Liverpool will reverberate for years and decades to come.
But the vice-captain was also keen to express the players’ ambitions amid all the hunger to give the manager a golden send-off.
The No. 66 explained: “We know our motivations, before or after the manager announced his news, we knew what our goals and targets were.
“It’s another motivating factor, we use it to our advantage and don’t let it pressure us. We know we want to help him go out with a big parade, a big send-off.
“But as players we want that, it’s also us, it’s our last season with him as well, and I’m a player who spent his whole career under the manager so I’ve known no different.
“I want it to end on a high as well.”
Nine league cup finals to go, and, hopefully, five in Europe!
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