Jurgen Klopp experienced a rollercoaster of emotions as Liverpool suffered their first loss of the 2023/24 season in controversial fashion against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday (30 September). The German gaffer was mostly dumbfounded and raging from inside as the referees decisions went against his side to deliver them a gutting loss.
However, he was still considerably more composed than he normally is in a touchline considering the circumstances that unraveled. Klopp saw his Liverpool side robbed of what has turned out to have been a completely legal goal, having two separate players sent off and lose due to a last-minute own goal from Joel Matip.
Despite that, Klopp kept encouraging his players to believe their own ability and fight against the storm even after losing multiple players in the game. His tactics for a nine-man Liverpool side almost paid off perfectly until a bad stroke of luck saw Matip score an unfortunate own goal, ending the Reds’ unbeaten streak.
The Liverpool manager was involved in a really heart-warmig moment towards the very end of the thrilling clash. Before Matip scored the last-minute own-goal, Klopp was seen making an interesting gesture towards his players.
The cameras caught the German gaffer making what appeared to be the sign of a heart towards his players. He could be seen making the sign of a heart on his own heart area, something which fans really loved from the manager after what was a really gutting game for the Reds.
Fans were also left to decode who the message was actually meant for. Of course, considering that the message was seen to be sent off around the injury-time in the second half, there was realistically only nine Liverpool players that he could’ve meant it for.
A little bit of lip-reading for Klopp indicates that he actually might’ve uttered the words ‘Ryan’ before making that gesture. Of course, that would hint that the message was for substitute Ryan Gravenberch, who was brought into the game around the 80th minute mark to help the Reds get a positive result from the game.
However, this might not have been just for the Dutch midfielder. There is a bigger chance that KLopp actually wanted his entire team of nine players on the pitch to show more heart and believe in themselves. The heart sign in that case was probably the discreet pep talk that the German manager wanted to give to his players and he only called out Ryan to give him the message and urge him to pass it onto hs teammates.
While the message didn’t exactly work according to plan, as Liverpool conceded late on and went onto lose the game, fans are absolutely loving this new vibe around the Reds this season. A lot of supporters believe that Klopp has given a major boost of energy to his Liverpool squad over the summer and has completely rejuvenated his side’s vibe with some inspired new signings and necessary changes.
In fact, Klopp himself recently admitted to be loving this new energy that he has discovered at Liverpool this season because of the impact of the new signings. He said: “It gives me completely new energy. It’s great, this team has a completely new set-up. I loved everything about the seven years before but obviously we all need energy sources and looking at these faces every day to see how much they enjoy the new challenge gives me energy as well.”
Liverpool might’ve suffered their first loss of the campaign, but the general positive vibe around the club and new-found energy in Klopp’s squad is definitive proof that the loss is unlikely to affect their charge for major titles.
