jürgen Klopp will not miss the Merseyside derby as his Liverpool reign ends. Listening to him explain why before the final match against Everton was further evidence of the Liverpool manager's need to recharge once another title race has been contested.
Klopp could look favorably on English football's most played derby, which enters its 244th edition on Wednesday with local rivals desperately needing victory, but for very different reasons. He has only lost one of 18 Merseyside derbies, and that it was behind closed doors during the pandemic. He has never lost at Goodison Park and a tenth victory over Everton would also be Liverpool's 100th in the match's history. However, beyond the victory, it is not an occasion that Klopp really enjoyed.
“In the derby there is only pressure,” said the Liverpool coach, who has lost Diogo Jota for the next fifteen days due to another injury. “The pressure is greater, so why should the joy be greater? You win it, great; but why should he miss the pressure around him? This time, when you're really playing for something, that's the pressure. But when neither of you are in a great moment, it is the only game you definitely have to win. That kind of pressure, why would I miss it? It's not nice.
“Everyone else can just watch it and think, 'Oh my God, that looks exciting.' But someone has to make the decisions, someone has to do this, someone has to do that. A lot of people always visit me during the games and say, 'We won't watch that or that anymore,' and I just want to tell them: I work all the time while you just watch the games. I'm constantly at it. Even when the game ends I can't log out. It's not a good thing to be in this situation all the time. Maybe other people enjoy that more than I do. But that's something I definitely won't miss.”
Klopp added: “I had my last European game last week (against Atalanta). Yeah, we didn't pass and you can make a big story about it being my last game, but I just tried to figure out how I felt and it was nothing. It's not that I felt I would never play a European game again. If that were the case, then I wouldn’t stop him.”
The physical nature of the Merseyside derby has also contributed to Klopp's wariness of it, although he hopes the match's checkered history in that regard has begun to change. “It used to be (the more physical game),” he said. “At first I remember showing the players videos of (Jamie) Carragher in the derby and Stevie (Gerrard) where he got red cards. I love one and respect the other a lot. That's what people expect, that if you get a red card against Everton Alright. It's not at all because we want to win the game and that's the only reason we go there.
“At first there were some situations where I thought it was over the top. Since then he has settled down a bit and I hope he stays that way because he should. At first I thought, 'Wow, that's what they're allowed to do?' and I didn't understand that. But I had to learn all these things over the years. Everything that makes it a really special football match, with all the ups and downs of a match and the good and the bad, I totally agree. “When it crosses the line, I’m not that at all.”
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Klopp achieved successive victories at home for Everton against Nottingham Forest and Burnley had “all but fixed” their place in the top flight for one more season. Everton manager Sean Dyche, who will be without Beto due to concussion protocols and has doubts over Dominic Calvert-Lewin's injuries, would disagree. The importance of the 244th Merseyside derby for Liverpool is beyond doubt.
“Until a few weeks ago everything was better than people expected (at the start of the season), then there's this week where we put in one of our best performances at (Manchester) United but we lost, and then it's: 'Why? what no? Don't you score more?'” Klopp said. “There are only two teams that have scored more (Manchester City and Arsenal) and they haven't scored 50 more. We won at Atalanta, not enough to go through, but we still won and. Then we beat Fulham and people say it wasn't that good. Oh my god, I wish you could play a. first division game and feel the intensity. I'm really positive. We won the last two games 4-1 (on aggregate), so if people want to see it like that, we are in a good moment.”
