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Jurgen Klopp joked that Liverpool fans had stopped listening to him after his team beat Norwich City 5-2 in the FA Cup.
It was an emotionally charged afternoon at Anfield with fans serenading Klopp throughout, some 48 hours after his shock announcement that he would be leaving at the end of the season.
The German coach had previously urged his fans to sing about the players and not him during matches.
“It’s not always easy, but my job is to recover,” he said.
“I received all the messages that people sent, I am not made of wood.
“I said not long ago that you didn’t sing the song during the game. People have obviously stopped listening to me! That’s good!
“It is the first game after (the announcement). I’m not here to tell people what to do.
“We are playing again on Wednesday. If we could ignore for 95 minutes that the manager is leaving at the end of the season and do everything we could to make Chelsea as uncomfortable as possible, that would be fantastic. “I know people know that.”
Klopp was delighted with the performance of a young line-up with academy youngsters James McConnell and Conor Bradley starring.
“It was a wonderful afternoon in every way,” he added.
“Maximum performance from all those involved. The boys showed up and participated in four of the five goals. Nothing to complain about.
“The academy is in a good moment, producing wisely. It’s not about me giving them opportunities, but about them knocking on the door.”
Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai could be seen returning from injuries.
Alexis Mac Allister was rested with a minor muscle problem but Klopp hopes he will be fit to face Chelsea in their Premier League clash at Anfield on Wednesday.
“Trent and Dom weren’t gone for long, but Robbo really was gone for a long time,” he said.
“Every minute they were able to get now is really important and today that helped share the intensity again.
“In four weeks we will play the next FA Cup game, so until then we will only play Premier League games and a final. Let’s do it and make sure we’re ready.
“The guys are back and that’s great, but to be honest, we played pretty well without them. “We have to make sure we are the only team that Chelsea don’t want to play against and Arsenal don’t want to play.”
(Playmaker/MB Media/Getty Images)