All this time at home has renewed Jurgen Klopp’s appreciation for his colleagues.
The Liverpool manager revealed to the BBC’s “Football Focus” on Friday he misses the Reds’ players and staff more than anything else during England’s coronavirus shutdown. The Premier League suspended play in mid-March, and two months away from Liverpool’s group has Klopp eager to see his soccer family again.
“I miss the boys the most,” Klopp said. “Not only the boys but all the people at Melwood (Liverpool’s practice facility) because we have a really, really good relationship, and we became friends over the last four-and-a-half years. So we saw each other pretty often with Zoom and stuff like this, but it’s still not the same. Going back to Melwood, just going there and doing things we usually do, that’s something I really miss.”
Liverpool has a 25-point lead atop the Premier League standings and is two wins away from winning its first English league title since 1990. The positive atmosphere surrounding the club is among the key factors in the team’s stellar season to date, and it only makes sense those day-to-day interactions and the accompanying camaraderie would represent what Klopp misses most about his work.
The Premier League hopes to resume play in mid-to-late June but plans remain in development, under the commonly used nickname “Project Restart,” while clubs and governing bodies await guidance from the United Kingdom government over when it might be safe to do so.
