Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he had to “pull himself together” for the FA Cup victory over Norwich after an outpouring of emotion from friends and fans after he announced he would leave the club at the end of the season.
His players followed through on his insistence that nothing should change with a 5-2 win over Norwich to set up a fifth-round tie at home to either Watford or Southampton.
It came amid a celebration of Klopp at Anfield, who sat in contemplative mood as the Kop belted out “You’ll Never Walk Alone” before kick-off, and followed it up with a first-minute rendition of “I’m so glad that Jurgen is a Red”.
“It’s emotional, but I have to pull myself together. I received all the messages. I’m not made of wood,” Klopp said.
“It was a top performance from everybody involved, really good.
“We could have passed a little, but with more purpose, direction and being quicker in the way we scored two goals but conceded a set-piece goal.
“But it is clear when you are as dominant as we are, if we improve in some departments we create more chances.”
Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez scored either side of Ben Gibson’s headed equaliser, but in the second half it was virtually one-way traffic and further goals came from Diogo Jota, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch, with Borja Sainz’s screamer briefly making it 4-2.
However, other major plus points were the returns from injury off the bench from Andy Robertson – out since October with a dislocated shoulder – fellow fullback Trent Alexander-Arnold, and midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
With Premier League matches against Chelsea and Arsenal in the next week, having them all back is a real boost.
