Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp opens up on injuries empty stadiums and being the worst champions ever

It is one of those days with Jurgen Klopp when the laughter is flowing and the conversation is zig-zagging in all manner of directions.

From discussing pre-match routines to explaining the reasons why he will never wear a suit to work, there is a bonhomie about Liverpool’s manager once more and it feels significant he has this bounce. It helps, undoubtedly, that his team is thriving but there is more to his demeanour than good results.

Klopp is many things but, first and foremost, he is a football man and an occasion such as the one that beckons against Chelsea on Sunday – with the colour and the noise and the opportunity – stirs his soul. More than anything, though, it will give him reason to be thankful.

Events of the past week mean we cannot say the world is getting back to normal but, in a sporting sense, the sight of Wembley packed to the rafters, bedecked in red and blue, offers an indication that the worst of the pandemic is behind us.

‘I have always been appreciative about things,’ says Klopp. ‘I really don’t take it for granted but playing in an empty stadium was a tough one. I’m an emotional coach, we are an emotional team; we are an emotional club. We are not like a little bit here, a little bit there. We need this extra bit.

‘The atmosphere, for example, sometimes is not that good in a stadium. That doesn’t really happen for us, but if it is you think: “why was it like that?” But if you have no atmosphere, you take each atmosphere from that point.’

Does he love football more than ever before?

‘Yes, that’s true,’ he replies in a flash. ‘That is how it is.’

There is petrol in Klopp’s tank again, which is in stark contrast to how it was 12 months ago. Back then, Liverpool were in the middle of a run that featured six consecutive home defeats and he was trying to find solutions for problems at a time when he was still grieving the loss of his mother, Elisabeth.

Eventually, Klopp found a solution for Liverpool’s on-field issues – which traced back to the day Virgil van Dijk ruptured his cruciate ligament in October 2020 – but come the end of the campaign, the German was so drained, he could hardly think straight. Football management doesn’t make you immune to every day stresses and he tells a story that puts it all into context.

‘Injury-wise, it was absolutely crazy,’ he begins. ‘After winning the Premier League, the Champions League and winning other cup competitions, finishing third last season comes next pretty quickly (in my achievements) because it was absolutely incredible how we did that in the end. Incredible.

‘I never thought more about football – and I think a lot about football – than in this period. How can we make it work? How can we make it so we just have a chance? All the while everyone was talking and (saying) we were the worst ever defending champion. Thank you very much, that was nice!

‘We were pretty much on three wheels getting somehow over the line. It was an incredibly intense season and, yes, I was more than happy for a holiday. For the first ten days, I didn’t take the phone out once or whatever and ask could we have this player? I couldn’t have cared less at that moment.

‘You are right, why shouldn’t managers be different? But, for all l of us, it was the same. We were all drained. Just finished. Done. In some moments, it was the hardest time of our lives – at least our football lives… you are still Liverpool but with half-cut wings. You try to fly but it is pretty difficult.’

There is no such issue at present. A run of nine consecutive wins have allowed dreams of an unprecedented quadruple bid to soar but the first bridge to cross is at Wembley, a stadium that wouldn’t necessarily be high on Klopp’s list of favourite places.

‘There are mixed memories!’ he says, laughing again. ‘I had two finals and lost twice (2013 with Borussia Dortmund, 2016 with Liverpool), but that is not too bad because I am a man for the third chance! Why is it “Wem-ber-lee” by the way? I saw it written down that way?’

He is told it is how Liverpool fans sing it ahead of big days and, suddenly, it makes sense. It is almost exactly six years since they were last there for a final and there is a determination to enjoy this clash against one of their biggest rivals. The emotions for Klopp, on the other hand, are a little different.

‘Nervous is not the right word,’ he says. ‘I get tense. Before the Champions League final (against Tottenham in 2019) I was really afraid as losing two Champions League finals (previously) is not nice. I was really afraid of being alone beforehand, sitting in a room trying to prepare a meeting.

‘Then you sit there for three or four hours. It’s a late game, trying to prepare and you would just go nuts. But I just fell asleep and that was really cool! I was really happy with myself! I hope I have the same mind-set (on Sunday). But in the end, the boys will decide it.

‘I will try to help as much as I can with all I know from the past and about the future, but in the end the boys will decide it. Players are not nervous. Players want to play. You can prepare the meeting as good as you can and play as good as you can. Then you accept the consequences.’

He will be overseeing things, in his tracksuit and baseball cap, and there is not a thought of dressing up for the day, as he did when first contesting this final in 2016. It has nothing to do with superstitions, just his views on what is sartorially right for the touchline.

‘I will not wear a suit but not because I am superstitious,’ he says with a smile. ‘If I look back on pictures after the Champions League final and how I look there – bad shave, hat over there – I couldn’t care less. I could stand there in swim shorts – as long as we win people will be happy.’

And he will only be happy if he gives his people the win they crave.

‘In 20 years, if you want to talk about this team,’ Klopp suggests, ‘I would not be surprised if we don’t win anything else, people will say: “Yeah they were good… but they should have won more”. That’s why we should try to win a few things. The next chance – the best chance – is this weekend.’