As Liverpool’s manager, Jürgen Klopp will make one last reminder of “one of the biggest mistakes in my life.”
Tottenham and Liverpool play this afternoon at Anfield.
It will remind Jürgen Klopp of Luis Díaz’s incorrectly disallowed goal, but it might also serve as another bitter reminder.
This season, Tottenham won’t be associated with fond memories for Jürgen Klopp and Liverpool. The arrival of Spurs this afternoon serves as a reminder of the greatest injustice to have occurred in the Premier League in the last year or so, as the season draws to a close and the German’s tenure at Anfield draws to an end.
Klopp doesn’t require any reminders, for sure. Even now, Liverpool can only speculate about the potential influence of Luis Díaz’s incorrectly disallowed goal in North London in September on the team’s season.
“As much as I don’t want to make it the main topic, I can’t forget the [last] Tottenham game,” Klopp stated in his press conference on Friday, giving an overview of the match. “It was just so strange.”We now play Tottenham, and it is evident that they simply played the game that evening; it was not their fault. However, there are 500 reasons why I would like to win that game, and one of them is the manner in which we lost.”
It might be too much to ask that the Reds’ championship challenge, which has collapsed in recent weeks, destroyed their chances of sending Klopp packing with another trophy. If the right choice had been taken, it would have been interesting to see how that game turned out as well as how the remainder of the campaign would have turned out.
As a result, Liverpool fans will be itching for retribution today. Tottenham will give Klopp more unpleasant reminders than just that, though.
The 56-year-old will have to face one of his greatest career regrets when he plays Spurs one last time. He was on the verge of signing this player, but had to watch him go on to become one of the biggest stars in the world.
Son Heung-min has shown himself to be a wise acquisition for Tottenham. Having led the team as captain for the past nine seasons, he has scored 161 goals in 403 games. With Harry Kane currently playing for Bayern Munich, he is perhaps Ange Postecoglou’s best player.
Thus, it comes as no surprise that Klopp is a fan. In reality, he could have been Son’s manager in the past if events had gone differently.
When Son chose Bundesliga rival Bayer Leverkusen over Borussia Dortmund in 2013, Klopp lost out on signing the South Korean international. In November 2021, Klopp said to the Korean publication KBS News that “not signing Son Heung-min was one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”
“Excellent athlete. He is one of the world’s top strikers and a great representation of Korean football.”
At the time, Son gave this explanation for his decision: “I wanted to stay in the Bundesliga.” Dortmund and Leverkusen both wanted me. Both teams are Champions League participants, but I anticipated Dortmund would rotate players more frequently than Leverkusen.
“For this reason, I opted for Leverkusen over Dortmund. At my age, it’s crucial to play frequently.”
Later today, Klopp will be hoping that his error doesn’t come back to bite him. Son will be looking to win just his third game against Liverpool, having netted five goals in his previous six league games against the Reds.
Son seems like a player who would have fit Klopp wonderfully, according to Liverpool. His demeanour and style of play align well with the kind of player the German is searching for. I hope he spends a calm time at Anfield this afternoon.