Liverpool playmaker Adam Lallana has revealed that manager Jurgen Klopp was at the forefront of the club’s Christmas party despite losing to Bournemouth earlier that day.
In Klopp’s first full season in charge at Anfield, the 2016-17 season, the Merseyside club travelled to Dean Court to face the Cherries on 4 December and it turned out to be one of the greatest matches in Premier League history.
The Reds were leading 3-1 just after the hour mark but the hosts produced a sensational comeback to come away with a 4-3 victory thanks to a last-minute winner from Nathan Ake after a mistake from Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius.
It was a massive blow for Liverpool at the time because not only did it prevented them going 13 matches unbeaten in the Premier League, it enabled eventual champions Chelsea to develop a gap between themselves and Klopp’s men.
In an upcoming book entitled Klopp: Bring the Noise, Lallana, who was a late substitute in the match, revealed that the German delivered a stunning message to the team in Barcelona before their Christmas party.
“When we landed in Barcelona, music came on in the plane and he got on the microphone,” he said as quoted in the Daily Mail.
“He was like: ‘Listen, lads. If we can party when we win, we can party when we f****** lose.’
“So everyone got off the plane thinking: ‘You are right, it is the time to party. Let’s party. Let’s have a drink.’ Which just shows: there is more to life than football. Yeah, we did our best; we lost.”
OPINION
This is a truly fascinating insight into one of the most charismatic managers that we have ever seen in the Premier League. Given the manner of the defeat, many coaches might have decided to call off the annual Christmas party. It’s fantastic to see that the German tried to take the positives out of the result and it probably allowed the players to get a better perspective in terms of dealing with losses. The Christmas party certainly appeared to have the desired impact on the team as Liverpool remained unbeaten throughout the month of December after the Bournemouth game. This can be seen as a lesson to other managers in the game.