“A top start, outstanding finish [and] in between... Let me start with the most important [thing], I really thought and felt from the first second today [that] Southampton is a really good club.” #lfc [lfc]
Klopp: “When you see the people when you've been relegated, which is obviously the worst thing you want to happen, and the atmosphere is like the atmosphere was like today then, I have to say, it is pretty special. I liked it a lot.”
Klopp: “Then we are 2-0 up and we knew the Southampton players want to pay back to these people - and we let them. We just opened the door for a really talented, offensive team - the counter-attack with the speed they have.”
Klopp: “You can make a list of things we weren't and that led to the counter-attacks they had. They scored the goals and it's 2-2, then 4-2 and then we started doing the right things again.”
Klopp: “All of a sudden we did what we wanted to do in the second half from the start. Then it was more than spectacular, I think we could have scored a fifth, a sixth, and they had another counter-attack, [but] how I said: top start, outstanding finish, in between just silly.”
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"When I arrived, I expected to hear 'You’ll Never Walk Alone' and for the fans to sing songs. I loved all that. But nothing prepares you for what it’s like live. How every action on the pitch gets a reaction in the stands." #lfc [the players' tribune]
Fabinho: "So, after every tackle, pressure, every possible foul, I was turning around and paying attention as the fans were going crazy. Man, I was fascinated. I was just admiring them. That noise, that passion. I’d never seen anything like it. The fans are part of the team."
Fabinho: "They inform how we play. 'Heavy metal football' doesn’t work without them. They are the ones pushing us into every move. They never let us stop. Even in those moments when the ball is stuck in midfield and it seems like nothing is going right."
“I think we’ve done a bit of it all. We’ve stayed at the top level with the mindset we’ve set. The first season was the year we realised we could really achieve something special." #lfc [mirror]
Oxlade-Chamberlain: "We were winning games 4-0, 5-0, Mo [Salah] couldn’t stop scoring and Hendo gave us the belief we could win any game. The second season was when you saw a really big jump up when we just missed out on the league that year, by one point."
Oxlade-Chamberlain: "And that was when the team felt unstoppable. We had some tough times, we lost Virgil [van Dijk], Joey G [Gomez], we had to really dig in and fight for the Champions League. It’s not always been plain sailing through the success."
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on his plans post Liverpool:
"I still want success, I’ve had a taste of it here, they’ve been the best years ever. So, if by any chance, I can have another sniff of achieving anything like that again then I’d bite your hand off." #lfc [mirror]
Oxlade-Chamberlain: "I think I need to go and play somewhere as consistently as possible. They say you’re coming into your peak at 29, so I want to go and test myself, play consistently. I’m still hungry, I still feel I have a lot of games left in me and a lot of energy left."
Oxlade-Chamberlain: "I don’t like to say a point to prove, but that’s always been my attitude. From when I went to Arsenal, I felt like that. When I went to Liverpool, that’s how I felt. When I walked through the door, I felt like I needed to do that. It’s the same again."
"Naby is an exceptional footballer, what a player he is. Maybe one or two injuries too many just hindered him from getting really through." #lfc [lfc]
Klopp: "But if you go through – and I would really recommend that – if you go through our really big games of Liverpool FC you might be surprised how often Naby was in the starting line-up and how often he played incredibly well."
Klopp: "It was a bit of a shame, when it was really going well then a little injury here, a little muscle thing there. That was not too cool and that is probably what people might remember as well, but in his moment he is world-class, without a shadow of a doubt."
Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon on Jorg Schmadtke:
“Firstly, I would like to welcome Jorg to Liverpool in the knowledge that he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience into a role in which such qualities can only be beneficial both to him and us." #lfc [lfc]
Gordon: "Jorg will work with our football operations department as it continues to provide support for Jürgen Klopp, in keeping with our ongoing endeavour to keep growing and developing the club in all areas."
Gordon: "At the same time as we welcome Jorg, we must also bid a fond farewell to Julian Ward, who has served us with unstinting diligence, fortitude and energy in a number of roles, the most recent one being sporting director."
🚨 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Jorg Schmadtke has been appointed as the club's new sporting director. #lfc [lfc]
The 59-year-old German will begin his new role on June 1, subject to the successful completion of work permit formalities, and will take over as Liverpool’s sporting director from Julian Ward, who will bid farewell this summer after more than a decade at the club, as per @LFC
Schmadtke has signed a short-term deal which club sources insist is longer than three months and could be extended, as per @dmlynch