Liverpool said an emotional farewell to Jurgen Klopp on Sunday with one player's actions under the microscope
Jurgen Klopp saying his Liverpool farewell(Image credit: Getty Images)
Liverpool, but more specifically Anfield, was a maelstrom of emotion on Sunday, as the Reds said farewell to Jurgen Klopp.
The German manager announced earlier this year that he would be calling time on his Reds tenure at the end of the season, closing the chapter on a spell that saw the club end a 30-year wait to be league champions on their way to picking up every available domestic honour.
Sunday’s final match saw Liverpool defeat Wolves to give Klopp a victorious Anfield farewell, with the Reds squad giving Klopp and his departing staff a guard of honour following the win.
Footage has emerged of Darwin Nunez failing to clap Klopp in his guard of honour. He was also seemingly the only player not to clap for Klopp in his final team meeting yesterday.That’s really not a good look. pic.twitter.com/VfqkBnnDZPMay 20, 2024
Supporters gave Klopp a rapturous farewell while his players applauded the German as he headed out onto the Anfield pitch one last time.
However, some eagle-eyed fans on social media spotted one player with his hands by his side both when Klopp first went out and then when he ran back for a second approach.
That player was Darwin Nunez, one whose future has been somewhat under the microscope in recent weeks.
Darwin Nunez (Image credit: Getty Images)
The Uruguayan has had to settle for a place on the bench in Liverpool’s last four Premier League matches following a barren spell in front of goal, while his move to delete almost all his Liverpool-related posts on Instagram has also raised eyebrows among the Reds fanbase.
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Pre-match footage of Klopp’s final dressing room team talk also saw Nunez with a hand on his head as he looked down to the floor, leading to further accusations of a strained relationship between player and coach on social media.
Klopp moved to back the striker in recent weeks, telling the media: “It’s tricky. Strikers have to go through these things.
"That's how it is. That's a striker's life. A goalkeeper's life is make 500 saves, then one howler - and everybody talks about this.
"A striker's life is you score all the time, then you don't score for a while and then everybody asks why you don't score. It can be the most difficult thing in the world and sometimes it's the easiest thing in the world, depending on what chance you get.
"So create again, create again and try and get in the right positions to finish the situations off. It will be a really rich man or woman who can write that book [on a striker getting back to their best]. You have to go through it. I try to help them speeding it up. That says nothing about the quality of the boys."
A despedida de Jurgen Klopp do Liverpool não acabou em Anfield. O clube organizou uma festa e o treinador mostrou os dotes de dança junto dos jogadores e em palco 🕺🏻🎥 X#liverpoolfc #lfc #klopp #jurgenklopp #ynwa pic.twitter.com/wyngivvXbHMay 20, 2024
Perhaps more telling was a video clip that emerged on social media from Liverpool’s Sunday evening party at the Titanic hotel on Sunday evening which showed Nunez playfully bundling the German onto the dancefloor and encouraging him to dance, surrounded by Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Stefan Bajcetic.
While relations between two emotional characters in Nunez and Klopp may have been strained of late, this party footage should act as a reminder that context is everything.
For more than a decade Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor, with stints at Mirror Football and LeedsLive among others. He is the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team.
