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‘It was weird’ – Trent Alexander-Arnold discloses how Jurgen Klopp told Liverpool players his exit plans
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has disclosed that he and his teammates sensed a shift in atmosphere on the day Jurgen Klopp announced his departure from the club.
Klopp publicly revealed his decision to step down as manager at the end of the season in late January. Although he had informed the club’s hierarchy of his intention back in November, the players learned of it simultaneously with the fans and the wider football community.
What struck Alexander-Arnold as unusual was the immediate gathering of the Liverpool players for a team meeting upon their arrival at the club’s Kirkby training ground.
“[It was] weird, because we never have a meeting at that time, never,” Alexander-Arnold explained to Gary Neville on the latest edition of The Overlap. “We normally get in at 10:00 or 10:30 and then have a meeting at 12:00 just before we go out to train. But when we got in, we had a meeting at 10:30 and that’s the first time I’ve ever had a meeting at 10:30.
“Everyone’s in the changing room, [Klopp] is just stood there and you can see the lads all looking round, thinking, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he just says, ‘Look, lads, I wanted to let you know’. It was breaking [publicly] at the same time. He knew that another season would be too much.
“Something he taught us and something I’ve adopted as a player is take it season by season, no matter what situation you’re in. There’s no point stressing about the next season because that’s completely different. There’s so many lessons he’s taught me, but that’s probably one of the biggest.”
With Jurgen Klopp’s tenure at Liverpool drawing to a close after nearly nine years, the Reds have already secured the Carabao Cup and are now setting their sights on a remarkable treble. Both the Premier League and Europa League trophies remain within their grasp as the campaign progresses.