Jurgen Klopp fires parting shots at Chelsea, Man City and Man United at Liverpool farewell event
The shackles were off for Jurgen Klopp as he poked fun at Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United on Tuesday night.
The former Liverpool boss spoke to 11,000 fans attending a Q&A session at the M&S Bank Arena, nine days after his Anfield reign ended.
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But before he said his last goodbyes, the German cracked a number of lighthearted jokes at the expense of Liverpool's Premier League rivals.
As well as his known dislike for 12:30 kick-offs, Klopp reeled off a list of topics he was supposedly told not to mention.
He said: "TNT [Sport] - no 12:30 discussion, referees, we don't talk about Man City - don't know why, we don't talk about financial things - don't know why, VAR."
The conversation then turned to City and their 115 charges of allegedly breaching the Premier League's financial rules.
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Pep Guardiola recently guided City to a historic fourth consecutive title and Klopp's Liverpool had been his most consistent rivals.
When asked if City would be stripped of their titles they won during that period, Klopp joked: "If you organise a bus parade I'm in. How long it takes, I don't care how long."
Klopp then took aim at Chelsea's owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, who made headlines following the departure of Mauricio Pochettino, with yet another new manager on the horizon.
"We should be really happy we have them (Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group) and not guys who bought London clubs," Klopp said. "I wouldn't have survived a year at Liverpool [with them].
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"Finally they [Chelsea] play football which everyone thinks 'Oh, they might be back' and then they sack the manager anyway.
"The owners feel responsible for the club. Are they the best in the world? I don't know, I can't say. But they worked really hard. I felt supported."
Emotional Jurgen Klopp breaks down in tears as 11,000 Liverpool fans sing his name at farewell event and he even does the fits pumps one last time
Of course, Klopp was not going to let arch-rivals Man United get off lightly.
This time, he appeared to give his thoughts on Red Devils loanee Jadon Sancho.
The winger was banned from first team training following a public fall out with Erik ten Hag and sent out on loan to Klopp's former club Borussia Dortmund.
"If the whole world loses trust and faith in the player, the manager has to be the one behind the player," Klopp said, referencing Ten Hag.
"I cannot just buy into that 'he's useless', like other clubs did by the way - buying a player for £80million and then sending him out on loan!"
Klopp confirmed he would be leaving Anfield at the end of the 2023/24 season in January.
Former Feyenoord boss Arne Slot will now take the reins at Liverpool as the Reds begin life after Klopp.
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