JURGEN KLOPP ADMITTED he could not watch his first penalty experience as Reds boss but he is relishing the opportunity of seeing his players play at Wembley.
The Liverpool manager also said that only the the first five penalty takers were decided for Liverpool in the shootout against Stoke, so Joe Allen took the initiative in sudden death to seal Liverpool’s place in the League Cup final.
“Until now I have not seen one penalty, to be honest — I was behind the wall my players built up [in front of me] so I will watch them at home,” he said.
“It was a mixture. Usually I want to see but we couldn’t see anything.
I can’t be on my knees — I had an ACL 20 years ago and it’s still not 100 per cent.
“That’s why I sat on a chair and you could see nothing. And it felt good, to be honest, only watching the crowd. In the end, we won without me watching and that’s good.”
A Marko Arnautovic goal put the visitors level on aggregate at Anfield following Jordon Ibe’s winner in the reverse fixture.
Penalties were needed to settle the encounter and the Reds edged matters from the spot 6-5, with Simon Mignolet saving efforts from Mark Muniesa and Peter Crouch before Allen converted the decisive kick.
“We only decided the first five, but we recognised that Joe usually should shoot,” Klopp said.
We already had five, but there was no real decision — [Allen] took the ball.
“He is a really, really good boy, a good lad, and it’s not the most easy of situations sometimes for players if you are in good shape — which he obviously is — but you don’t play from the beginning or in matches like this.
“He came in, he is a really good character, and he did well. He decided the game for us.”
