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Jurgen Klopp coined it ‘the eighth wonder of the world’.

The new Main Stand transformed Anfield in 2016 and the Liverpool players were inspired by their surroundings.

They marked the grand opening in September with a stunning 4-1 demolition of champions Leicester City and continued to ruthlessly sweep visiting teams aside.

In the final part of our exclusive interview with Jurgen Klopp reflects on how the new-look Anfield has boosted the club’s title challenge.

Klopp also gives his verdict on the impact of Roberto Firmino , the emergence of Ben Woodburn , who became the youngest goal scorer in the club’s history, and a memorable first trip to Goodison Park.

SEPTEMBER

September 10 2016 at Anfield: Liverpool 4 Leicester City 1 in the Premier League.

JP : That was a great way to mark the opening of the new Main Stand in the first home game of the season. 53,000 inside Anfield to watch you hammer the champions.

JK : When I left Anfield after the last home game of last season it was after the draw with Chelsea. So when I walked in and saw the new Main Stand in September it was like looking at the eighth wonder of the world. I couldn’t imagine for a second how they had done it.

You think about the old Main Stand when we left in May. I thought about how they were building the new stand behind it and thought ‘how are they possibly going to do it?’

Then when you see it you go: ‘whoa, good idea’. It’s unbelievable.

Of course our owners bought the club because Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in the world with a big history, massive supporter base.

What I really love about our owners is that this isn’t for now, this isn’t for the present, it’s for the future. I love this.

The whole thing is better than before. Everything. Inside is better than before. In this moment we are still in the temporary dressing rooms but everyone loves it because there’s so much more space.

This should be a sign for all English clubs. A small dressing room isn’t right. You don’t feel good. The game should be a highlight for everybody.

It’s not allowed that it’s only good for the home team and that the away team should go outside and change.

We now have space between the benches. The coaching area is much bigger and that makes absolute sense. There is no reason for the two managers to have contact during a game.

But if you are only a yard apart then of course you will have contact because you are both emotional.

That shouldn’t be part of the game that you think ‘bring the managers closer together so they might punch each other’.

We are all in a special mood when we play at Anfield in this moment. It’s completely good.

Of course it’s rose tinted glasses but everyone is supportive of this team.

We now have enough space to be really focused on what our team is doing. It’s a wonderful place both inside and outside. I love it really a lot. I felt really blessed in the moment when I saw it for the first time.

It had been different for so long that I’d been here. Now it’s massive and it’s perfect. Anybody who hasn’t seen the Main Stand until now will hopefully have that opportunity to see it sometime.

OCTOBER

October 29 2016 at Selhurst: Crystal Palace 2 Liverpool 4 in the Premier League.

JP : That was an eventful night in the capital. Five goals before half-time. Your team made some mistakes but the response was impressive....

JK : We were much better. We conceded some strange goals.

JP : Soft goals....

JK : Yeah soft, the kind you shouldn’t concede but it happens.

We were really good. I’d say that we played adult football. In the second half when anything could have happened we took the control back.

What we really have to learn is that our weapon is football. We are a football playing side. That sounds a little bit like we cannot fight.

That’s wrong because part of football playing is fighting but our real weapon which is absolutely difficult to defend against is football.

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If we play simple and quick as often as possible then it’s difficult for anyone to jump in.

It’s like what happened to Everton in the second half of the derby. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to fight any more, they didn’t have enough players to avoid our passes.

It’s about staying in the game like that and then scoring a wonderful goal. Absolutely perfect.

JP : Roberto Firmino’s goal wrapped up the points at Palace. He’s another player who can be proud of his contribution during 2016.

JK : Hopefully he is but I don’t think he thinks too much about it.

He feels really comfortable in the team and he’s a fantastic guy. He loves football so much and he’s best friends with Phil (Coutinho).

Their wives understand each other, they have kids of similar age so everything is perfect. They are the Brazilian twins if you want.

It’s really nice to watch these two completely different players but two players who are both very important for us.

NOVEMBER

November 29 2016 at Anfield: Liverpool 2 Leeds United 0 in the EFL Cup fifth round.

JP : What a moment that was - Ben Woodburn becoming the youngest goal scorer in Liverpool’s history...

JK : Oh, that’s absolutely great. Just look at Ben’s face. A little bit of surprise!

JP : You’re 17 years old and you’ve just scored in front of the Kop.....

JK : Unbelievable. When we came in, the first few weeks were really intense. Then in the first transfer window the players who were out on loan came back.

I had no real idea about the loan system in England. I’m not a big supporter of it, but I don’t say it’s wrong.

We changed things a little bit. A lot of young boys became involved and did a really wonderful job.

Ben was already in training with us sometimes because Pep (Lijnders) is a real supporter of all the young boys. He’s the best ambassador I’d say for them in the first-team coaching staff.

He gets excited! When he spoke for the first time about Ben, about Trent I said: ‘Okay, bring them in.’

When I saw them training I thought: ‘Oh my God, that’s really good.’

Then we saw Ovie (Ejaria) in a game here at Melwood one afternoon. We thought he was seriously injured as he couldn’t walk but then the next day it was nothing – like it is with kids sometimes.

Then we had the training camp in Tenerife last season and Ovie made a big impression, I thought: ‘Oh my God, he could be ready too!’

All these guys used the opportunity. Giving opportunities is easy, I could give an opportunity to anybody but to use it is their own job.

They used it. They deserved each step they took.

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In my opinion, in this moment I can say that the best professional club in the Premier League, actually in the world, for boys like this is Liverpool FC.

We really want them in our first team. If they don’t make our first team we really want them in other Premier League or Championship clubs.

That’s a real target for us. Again, it’s a real target for our owners too.

It’s not about selling them for money, it’s because they love the development way. It’s really cool.

DECEMBER

December 19 2016 at Goodison Park: Everton 0 Liverpool 1 in the Premier League.

JP : Your first trip to Goodison turned out to be an enjoyable one....

JK : Yeah, it was good. It was well deserved. We knew that the first half would be wild. We could have stepped in and changed the game a little bit earlier but we did it after 25, 30 minutes. We started to get the control back.

The more you outplay them, the deeper they defend and that’s what they did. It became more and more difficult for us to score a goal.

But then Daniel (Sturridge) came on and fired....... or rolled the ball against the post and it was an impressive sprint from Sadio (Mane). He didn’t have the best starting position but he was quick enough to finish it and it felt perfect.

I really think it was absolutely deserved. It was a very good night.

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JP : You saw what a derby win at Goodison means to Liverpool fans...

JK : I wasn’t surprised. I’d heard a few times before about what a win would mean.

JP : Finally, 2016 has had lots of highs and a few lows, do you look back on this year with great satisfaction?

JK : Satisfaction? No. Joy? Yes. I enjoyed it a lot. This morning I spoke to Hans-Joachim Watzke (CEO of Borussia Dortmund) and he asked me: ‘How is it?’

I told him: ‘Sometimes I can’t believe it. This is the perfect club, the perfect fit.’

All the Melwood staff here, we really love to work with together. There’s a really good atmosphere. This is a really good moment for LFC – the whole club.

We feel that we’re good but we also feel that we are only at the start of the way. All the things we change in this moment for the club are for the future, to give the club a stable future.

It’s a wonderful place to live and a fantastic place to work.