Alberto Moreno is looking forward to seeing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp as Villarreal travel to Anfield tonight.
Moreno won’t play any part in the tie due to an ACL injury suffered in March. But that hasn’t stopped him reminiscing on his Liverpool career ahead of the clash. Interviewed by Marca, the left-back spoke fondly of Klopp.
“It’s very good (his relationship with Klopp). Despite having played more or less in my time there, he is one of the best coaches in the world,” said Moreno. “Everything he is doing has enormous merit.
“If I see him at Anfield I will give him a hug and talk to him because he always treated me well, despite playing sometimes more and sometimes less.”
As he alludes to, Moreno wasn’t always first-choice during his years at Liverpool under Klopp. But that didn’t affect his opinion of the 54-year-old.
“As a coach he is very close to the player. He knows what he has to tell you at all times, to motivate you (as a person), and not only the player.”
Creating a winning dressing room
Klopp’s ability to create a harmonious dressing room is on the key reasons behind Liverpool’s success during his reign.
Players who aren’t in the team every week are made to feel just as important as those who are. The ultimate example of this has to be Divock Origi.
A chunk of Origi’s contentedness with his role at Liverpool of course comes from the player’s own nature. But there aren’t many manager’s who could keep a player like that interested and motivated.
Credit to Moreno
To his credit, Moreno was another who seemed happy despite his limited minutes. After beginning his time under Klopp as the first-choice, he was displaced by James Milner during the 16/17 season. Andy Robertson was brought in the following year and the rest is history.
Some players may hold a grudge against a manager who dropped them for a player who had never played the position before.
Not Albie though, he remained a positive and popular member of the dressing room. He didn’t play a single minute of the Champions League knockout games in 2019, but his smile was one of the widest during the celebrations that followed the final.
You can’t create a culture like that overnight. Klopp has carefully curated the players he has brought to the club to ensure they are the right personalities to match his squad.
So much emphasis is often placed on Liverpool’s excellent recruitment. As well as talent on the pitch though, they have been superb at bringing players to the club who help to create a positive environment in their manager’s image.