Klopp and Reds show they're out to make most of farewell tour

The Jurgen Klopp farewell tour marches on. Make sure you get a ticket…

ONTO THE NEXT...: Liverpool's manager Jurgen Klopp, left, lifts the trophy next to Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk. Pic: Dave Shopland, AP

The final curtain is up, the long bow has begun and Jurgen Klopp has his seventh major trophy at Liverpool; and, boy, his team’s battling. exhausting victory over Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Final at Wembley shows they have the appetite for a big farewell tour.

It took every ounce of energy Liverpool had to overcome Mauricio Pochettino’s side in a gruelling final that lacked quality but certainly not effort, and underlined once again how an inspirational Klopp gets the best from his players in every circumstance.

The moment that Virgil van Dijk headed home from a corner in extra time, having earlier seen a goal disallowed, summed up why Klopp is so loved by the Kop and how his team never, ever give up.

How the German dragged this performance out of a side missing 11 players to injury, and with a bench filled almost entirely with youngsters, is a remarkable and now all eyes will be on how they recover to take on a tumultuous fortnight ahead.

It’s not really the right time to look at negatives when you’ve just lifted silverware, but there remains a worry that the Klopp parade could yet be ruined by a procession of injuries that continued at Wembley.

A nasty looking injury to the ankle of Ryan Gravenberch, following a stretching tackle by Moises Caicedo that referee Chris Kavanagh somehow decided wasn’t even a foul, will be high on Klopp’s mind today regardless of the result and the celebrations; and it didn’t look good.

The injury means they now have 12 on the sidelines with another three trophies to play for, and Klopp’s side are clearly missing the impact of Salah, Jota and Nunez in attack, where they were often wasteful.

Few teams in any league can have an injury list in double figures and still compete at the highest level, and that’s what makes Klopp’s latest trophy such a special one.

The reason for the victory was Liverpool’s remarkable team spirit – and the performance of Corkman Caoimhin Kelleher, who again proved an able deputy for Alisson at Wembley and made a string of outstanding saves – including a remarkable reflex effort in extra time.

On that front, at least, Liverpool can relax.

But Klopp’s farewell tour is relentless, especially when you are struggling to find a fully-fit XI. So, the celebrations cannot last long – and the ice baths may well be out before the champagne arrives.

Liverpool play again in the FA Cup on Wednesday, at home to Southampton in the Fifth Round, and goodness knows who the German will find fill his team for a match that comes just three days before they travel to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League, never an easy away trip at the best of times.

The following Thursday there’s a trip to Sparta Prague in the Europa League (in the last 16) before the ultimate test – the visit of title rivals Manchester City on Sunday, March 10.

That’s four games in 14 days that could effectively decide whether Klopp leaves Anfield on an ultimate high, although of course his legacy and place in history are guaranteed regardless.

That’s what made putting one trophy in the bag early so important; and with Liverpool still top of the Premier League, the dream of delivering the Kop a Klopp farewell to remember forever is still on.

As for Chelsea, who have spent well over €1billion since they last lifted a trophy in 2021 (when they won the Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup), this final was more about a justification of the long-term tactics of their new American owners, and an acknowledgement that Mauricio Pochettino is the right man to deliver it.

The Argentine, don’t forget, arrived at Wembley having never won a trophy in England despite all the fanfare that surrounds him, a run that includes losing to Chelsea with Tottenham in the EFL Cup Final of 2015.

Poch’s pre-match comments that he didn’t want Chelsea fans to judge him on trophies sought to protect his side from over-expectation, but missed the point of what his club are all about. 

Since Roman Abramovich arrived in 2003 they have lifted 21 trophies, and the pressure on Todd Boehly to continue that streak is intense.

The new owner should be pleased with what Chelsea offered up, however. They had, arguably, the better chances – with Conor Gallagher missing three of the most glaring. One hit the post, one was superbly smothered by Kelleher and the other fired wastefully over the bar with only minutes of normal time to go.

It will please Boehly that Chelsea matched Liverpool’s intensity and regularly had success with balls over the top of the Liverpool defence; what you cannot ignore, however, is that a lack of a natural goalscorer – despite all that money spent – is still hurting the Blues badly. 

Surely that will be put right this summer.

The result means Chelsea have an unwanted new record – the first club ever to lose six domestic cup finals in a row.

It might have been different had Raheem Sterling’s goal not been ruled offside, but then Liverpool also had Virgil van Dijk goal strangely ruled out by VAR, which rather evened things up.

Chelsea’s Premier League season is long lost, but this display should encourage Blues fans at least, even if they left disconsolate and with hopes of European qualification looking slim.

The scenes in the Liverpool end were very different. Liverpool have played better, they have won bigger trophies – but they have rarely had to work harder for it with so many players unavailable for selection.

The Klopp farewell tour marches on. Make sure you get a ticket…