Klopp gives verdict on Liverpool dressing room's response to exit announcement

02 March 2024 , 23:50

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Jurgen Klopp is set to step down as Liverpool manager at the end of the season (Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool have already won the Carabao Cup this season and remain in with a chance of winning three more trophies to give manager Jurgen Klopp a fairytale farewell.

Klopp is set to step down as Liverpool boss at the end of the current campaign and he has been impressed by the way his players have reacted. In an interview with Sky Sports, Cody Gakpo claimed the "mentality of the manager and so the team" meant they immediately went "straight back to business" after Klopp informed them he would be leaving.

Gakpo said: "[It was a] shock moment when he got us all together and told us he was leaving at the end of the season. It's human to have that feeling. When you see what the manager did all those years for the club, it's amazing.

"But we also knew we were in a good moment and we have to be focused to win games and that's what we are. When the season started we did well at the beginning, and we already felt this could be a special one."

Klopp, meanwhile, has hailed his squad's professionalism, explaining: "They didn't have many questions, they have a really strong bond. We are professionals. The agreement you have with the team on both sides is one year, after that anything can happen.

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"For a year you have a real agreement, we are in that and the boys see it exactly like that. In training you can see the boys in a really good mood. It's not that they partied when I told them, it was just an announcement.

"It's different to other situations, usually a sacked manager just says goodbye. That wouldn't happen here because of our achievements with each other. A lot of managers would have been sacked last year.

Cody Gakpo has opened up about the Liverpool squad's reaction to Klopp's announcement (Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

"When it's not right anymore I have to tell them. The distraction comes from outside, but we will not let it happen. If we want we can throw in more because of this and that's 100 per cent the situation.

"The fact I said I won't be manager next year is not an excuse to do less, we will fight for everything and that's good news. I know I can't do the job in the future but I can do it very well right now and that's what I will do."

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Matthew Cooper