Klopp responds to idea of Gerrard replacing him after “strange” meeting

Liverpool claimed a battling 1-0 win over Aston Villa thanks to a Mohamed Salah penalty in what was Steven Gerrard’s first time in the Anfield dugout as a head coach

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In pictures: Liverpool v Aston Villa

Jurgen Klopp has once again given his blessing for Steven Gerrard to replace him as Liverpool boss as the Aston Villa manager returned to Anfield.

The Reds claimed a 1-0 win over Villa thanks to a Mohamed Salah penalty in what was Gerrard’s first time at Anfield as a head coach.

It’s not a secret that the German would love Gerrard to be his successor when he finally leaves Merseyside.

And Klopp reiterated that message at full-time during his post-match press conference.

He also admitted it was “strange” to see so many familiar faces in the opposition dugout as the pair met before kick off.

Will Steven Gerrard eventually replace Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool? Comment below

He said: “The good thing is I have no problem with this sort of thing. I will not be here forever so I would love it to be Stevie! But no I did not feel under pressure today.

“[Steven Gerrard] is obviously a good coach. It is really strange when you meet before the game. A lot of the coaching staff from your own club is strange. They do what they do and everything is okay.”

Klopp was relieved to secure the three points against Villa as Gerrard’s men put up a valiant fight.

He added: “The first 75 minutes was incredible football. It’s difficult. The opponent defended compactly. It looked really good, we played in the spaces we wanted to play but we did not finish the situations which is tricky.

“We came out in the second half and knew we had to keep going – and improve in moments. We were not calm enough in the last pass.

“We kept going. We scored with the penalty then the relief was obviously too big and it was an unnecessary open game. Like tooth pain! Nobody needs that. There are areas to improve even when we win football games, which is good.”

Salah was the match-winner once again for Liverpool and he has now scored or assisted 30 goals in 22 games this season.

And Klopp is running out of superlatives for his “insane” star.

He said: “Absolutely insane. We all think penalty. Everybody wishes in the moment to take the penalty but he finishes it off. The whole game was not the easiest but the triangles we had on the right and left wing were really outstanding.

“In the end we did not have enough bodies in the box in the first half.”

There was some controversy in whether Liverpool’s penalty was the correct decision, but Klopp was adamant the referee got the call spot on as Tyrone Mings fouled Salah.

He added: “I think for Tyrone Mings it was not easy to avoid the situation [for Liverpool’s penalty] so that’s it. The one with Andy Robertson I thought was a clear penalty at the time but I have not seen it back. I don’t know if it was a clear penalty or not.”