Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Carabao Cup, Virgil Van Dijk, Chelsea
Ryan Smart
Topics: Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, Carabao Cup, Virgil Van Dijk, Chelsea
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp had one strict instruction for his staff after Sunday's Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea - and it sums him up.
Klopp lifted his seventh trophy as Reds boss after Liverpool beat Chelsea 1-0 at Wembley.
Virgil van Dijk scored an 118th-minute header to mark his first competitive final as permanent club captain, rising beyond Blues centre-back Axel Disasi and powering his effort into the bottom corner.
The triumph was made all the more remarkable by the fact that Liverpool had five players aged 21 or under on the pitch - with all bar Harvey Elliott having been playing at reserve level last season.
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Klopp later described it as 'easily the most special trophy' he has ever won as a manager - a testament to the spirit and fearlessness of the young Liverpool players.
They were marshalled by the senior duo of Van Dijk and Wataru Endo in the closing stages of extra time, while winger Luis Diaz was also impressive.
The gravity of the achievement was reflected in the post-match celebrations, with even Klopp allowing himself to get slightly emotional on the touchline.
And according to The Times' Henry Winter, he ensured that his staff also played a key role in those celebrations with one strict demand.
It is claimed that Klopp 'left instructions' for every single member of his team's matchday staff to be involved in the celebrations at the podium post-match.
It is added that the German also wanted them to be featured in pictures, so that they could be added to personal albums and memory banks.
And Klopp was keen to show that they were 'all in it together'.
Speaking after the final, the soon-to-be departing Liverpool boss said: "What we see today is so exceptional.
"We might never see it again. These things don't happen in football. Apparently, you don't win trophies with kids. I didn't know that.
"I wish I could feel pride more often. Tonight, that's the overall feeling. Nothing to do with maybe my last game at Wembley.
"It was how everyone contributed. Seeing the faces of those kids. Nobody will ever forget this story - it's so difficult."