‘This is not us’ – Jurgen Klopp fervently chastises Liverpool fans over Alexander-Arnold treatment | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp has launched an impassioned defence of Trent Alexander-Arnold and condemned the hostility shown towards the vice-captain at Anfield recently.

The former Liverpool manager is back on Merseyside this weekend to witness the Reds being presented with the Premier League trophy, and on Friday night he addressed those in attendance at the LFC Foundation Gala Ball at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

It was under the German that the 26-year-old broke into the first team at his boyhood club and went on to become a global superstar, winning a plethora of major trophies along the way, but the manner in which he’s now leaving for Real Madrid on a free transfer has infuriated many Kopites.

Klopp condemns Liverpool fans for booing Alexander-Arnold

Klopp called for Liverpool fans to appreciate what Alexander-Arnold has done for the club and criticised those who booed the vice-captain when he came off the bench against Arsenal at Anfield earlier this month.

The 57-year-old said (via Sky Sports News): “I don’t want to tell anyone what they should think. I don’t want to say what you have to think but I can tell you what you think is wrong. I’m an old man and I don’t waste time with hiding my opinion.

“I don’t tell you you should not be disappointed or angry. I tell you: ‘Don’t forget’. This club doesn’t forget. We are famous for not forgetting. We don’t forget anything. We don’t forget the good thing and we don’t forget the bad thing, but we ignore the bad things and remember the good things.

“I’ve watched a lot of games and I watched the game when he came on and I heard the booing. I’m old so it might be my hearing so I turned up the volume and they’re booing. I needed another 10 seconds to realise and I switched the telly off. I honestly couldn’t have been more disappointed in this moment. This is not us, 100% not.

(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

“Be angry, don’t understand it, whatever. I was there every day. If he didn’t give everything, I would tell you now. Every day he gave absolutely everything for this badge and now he’s decided, after 20 years in this club, that he wants to go somewhere else. If somebody should be angry about that, it’s the owners, but they are not. They have to be angry, not us.

“He gave absolutely everything. He wears the Liverpool badge in the skin, but from next year on he plays for another club, so we decide how we deal with that.”

Klopp in no doubt over Trent’s commitment despite Slot accusations

Klopp’s impassioned testimony that Alexander-Arnold ‘gave absolutely everything’ at Liverpool appears to conflict with Arne Slot publicly questioning the right-back’s commitment in training when the Dutchman spoke to the media on Friday.

We never doubted Trent’s effort while he was playing for the 57-year-old, but there’s a strong suspicion that for several months his head has been in Madrid, something that his current boss now seems to have alleged with those comments.

Although the German holds an aura that very few people in LFC can match, we imagine that some Reds fans feel such a level of scorn over the manner of the England international’s exit that not even the former manager’s pleas to the contrary will change their perception.

Like Klopp, we’re not going to lecture anyone on how they ‘should’ feel about Alexander-Arnold’s situation. Every supporter is entitled to have their own view on it and decide to either empathise with the 26-year-old’s stance or downright oppose it.

All we hope is that, when we assemble at Anfield tomorrow for the final time this season to celebrate a long-overdue title party with fans in attendance, the mood will be fully celebratory irrespective of any other narratives which are going on.