Klopp can't hide his true feelings after Milner speaks out on Liverpool row
Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he enjoyed listening to James Milner 's recent podcast appearance - even though the ex- Liverpool star spilled the beans on a dressing room bust-up.
The veteran midfielder, 37, spoke to Jake Humphrey on The High Performance Podcast in a wide-ranging interview about his storied football career. His recollection of a row with Klopp, though, was the biggest talking point from their chat.
Milner spent eight years at Anfield and won both the Premier League and the Champions League under Klopp. He stressed he enjoyed a positive relationship with the German boss but also detailed how his attempts to speak to Klopp during the half-time interval of a match didn't go according to plan.
Milner said: “He was pretty good, he was open. Not so at half time; we had one moment where he was sharing his thoughts and I was sharing mine and I remember him smashing his hands on down the table and shouting, ‘Will you shut the f**k up!’ But Jurgen was brilliant, we had a great relationship and we were great off the pitch.”
Rather than being angry with Milner sharing an insight into life behind the scenes at Anfield, Klopp reacted to the interview in a positive fashion and admitted he enjoyed the listen.
Chelsea complete record-breaking Enzo Fernandez transfer after deadline day rush“James Milner had I think a podcast, had a bit of an insight [about] things that happened in the dressing room,” Klopp told supporters who were in attendance at Anfield for a test event in the renovated Anfield Road end on Monday night.
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“I was listening to it and actually one of my dreams came true – one of my former players talking about our common past. I couldn’t wipe my smile, that’s exactly what happened. So many great things happened here in the last few years and this team is set up for great things in the future.”
Milner joined Brighton in the summer after leaving Liverpool as a free agent. He departed Anfield after 332 appearances to link up with the Seagulls, even though Klopp wanted to keep him on Merseyside.
Jordan Henderson and Fabinho joined him in moving onto pastures new during a summer of change at Liverpool. The Reds replaced the long-serving trio with new signings Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.