Jurgen Klopp delivered his annual Christmas message, usually inspiring words delivered in a humorous but thoughtful manner.
The boss reflects on the past year, looks into 2023, talks about his highlights from 2022, admits that he enjoyed watching a Christmas movie and jokes about his beard…
Here is Klopp’s Christmas message in full:
“You know better than me what you want to sing on this day. I have special movies that I like to watch this time of year; “Real Love” is one of them and I’m sure we’ll watch it again!
“In the crazy world we live in, it’s quite nice to watch movies like this, where the plots are not as serious as in the real world.
“From a sporting point of view, 2022 was, I would say, quite successful. It all started with the Carabao Cup final. The FA Cup final was special, I really liked it.
“Then the league was quite spectacular. We were close again, I know it’s not really appreciated, I understand when you get close. But from the point of view of the coach, I am very proud of it.
“The Champions League final, Mr. Courtois, was a pretty good day. We performed well, but that night it wasn’t felt, it wasn’t felt for various reasons, which we didn’t know for sure right after the game, when we were already in the red.
“But when we heard our families’ stories about what happened around the stadium, it became clear that it was a special night for the wrong reasons. So it’s not going to be a Champions League final that we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.
“For the rest of our lives, we will remember the day after the Champions League final. You give absolutely everything and get a lot, but not everything. If it’s not worth celebrating, it will be the worst sign you can give to the outside world.
“And that’s why we celebrated two cup competitions, two cup victories, two big big campaigns and the fact that we are together, we are alive and love each other. That we can be different and want to react differently.
“This club is so special, and if someone didn’t know it before, this day was proof of that. It was great, I have no words. Now when I talk about it, I get goosebumps.
“A new season has started, everything turned out not as we expected. But that’s life, you have to deal with circumstances.
“We’ve been fighting ourselves, and now we’re within striking distance, and that’s all I need.
“It’s Christmas today. This is the Christmas of our lives, and this is how we should celebrate it.
“The older I get, the grayer my beard gets, the more I look like Santa Claus! But every year is a special time, even for a 55—year-old man, I’m looking forward to it because the family gets together.
“And from here we go again, I can’t wait. On New Year’s Eve, and then in 2023, and try to learn from the mistakes that we or other people made in 2022, and work together, help each other and make this the best year of our lives. Let’s try it together.
“Merry, merry Christmas.”
