Klopp feels pain of walking alone

LONDON • Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted that news that Reds legend Kenny Dalglish had tested positive for Covid-19 came as a huge shock to the club and that the pandemic has hurt him as he remains separated from his squad.

Dalglish, 69, tested positive for the coronavirus last week after being admitted to hospital for an infection which required intravenous antibiotics. He was asymptomatic and discharged on Saturday.

"It was a real shock three days ago when I heard about it first. The boys were sent a message in our WhatsApp group and everybody was like, 'wow'," Klopp told Liverpool's website.

"What you feel in that moment is a massive difference if you know somebody who got the virus, or if you don't know.

"We all know this terrible disease is causing heartache all over the world but this was the first time for many of us, (that) someone we have such a personal connection to, was affected to this extent."

Former Reds manager Dalglish is a revered figure at Anfield, having won six English league titles and three European Cups as a player.

The Premier League has been suspended indefinitely, with the UK on lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. Liverpool, with 82 points, held a 25-point lead over Manchester City at the top of the table when the season was halted.

Klopp has been putting his players through their paces in online training sessions and said the social aspect of the link-up, including birthday singalongs, was helping the squad deal with being stuck in isolation.

"When we have these training sessions, I could have never imagined I would enjoy it that much," he added. "The boys are all in good spirits. When we start at 10, the chat is open from 9.30 on and pretty much everybody is already in... That's the best thing of having this situation in 2020 - we have this technical opportunity.

"Imagine if we would have had it in the 80s or something like that, it would have been really crazy. Not because of football, because of all the social contact and interaction we can have and use in the moment. That makes a big difference."

But the German acknowledged that there are tough moments too. The squad were last together at their Melwood training ground four weeks ago.

"You want to be together with them, you want to have them around, you want to be closer to them than you can be," he said of his players. "It's getting worse, the longer it takes. I accept the situation 100 per cent like it is but, the longer you don't see somebody you like, the more it hurts. That's the situation we are in at the moment."

REUTERS