The list of players to have featured under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool is an extensive one, with some names set to live in the memory for considerably longer than others.
Indeed, one member of the squad that he inherited from Brendan Rodgers was seemingly so obscure that not even the manager recognised him in one first-team training session!
As he reflects on his Anfield career prior to his final game in charge of the Reds tomorrow, the 56-year-old recalled one moment near the start of his tenure which left him red-faced.
Klopp said (via The Telegraph): “We played in Sion on a frozen pitch. I learned a day before that we had Brad Smith and he stood right next to me in training and it was too embarrassing to ask him who he was.”
To say that the 0-0 draw away to Sion in December 2015, when Liverpool were already assured of progression from the Europa League group stage, won’t be among Klopp’s most celebrated matches with the Reds would be putting it politely.
That game was just Smith’s third senior appearance for LFC, and his first start, but BBC Sport saw fit to name him player of the match as he impressed on what was indeed a partially frozen pitch in Switzerland.
Now 30, the Australian would go on to play 11 times in total for the Merseysiders before joining Bournemouth the following summer, and he’s been in MLS since 2020, now lining out for Houston Dynamo.
While it may seem surprising that Klopp wouldn’t recognise some of the players at Liverpool when he was the club’s manager, he hadn’t been at the club for long when the defender was called into the senior squad for that Europa League fixture.
With the German having granted him all but one of his senior appearances for the Reds, we’re sure Smith won’t be too put out over the 56-year-old’s self-deprecating admission!
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