Jürgen Klopp has shared a special message for Liverpool supporters around the world on Christmas Day...

As always, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our supporters a very happy and peaceful Christmas Day, however they choose to mark this time of year.

As a club, Liverpool have fans from all over the world, all of whom will have their own individual customs, beliefs and traditions and will choose to mark today in their own way.

As I have said before, this is the same for us at Melwood – we have a wonderful and diverse mix of cultures and backgrounds, all coming together. There’s something really special about this.

However you spend today, I hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends. This, for me, is important and what I love about this time of year.

For us as a team, today is another day in our preparations. We will train this morning at Melwood, go home to our families this afternoon and then return to the hotel tonight ready for tomorrow’s important game with Newcastle.

This is my fourth Christmas as the manager of this incredible football club and although I am not the kind of guy to allow myself to look backwards, I think it is fair to say we have had an incredible ride in 2018 with some real highs and a couple of disappointments.

That’s what gives me the confidence and belief there is more to come from these boys in 2019, that there is more to come from this journey we are all involved in.

We can – and should – all be proud of what the team have done so far this season, but this is only the beginning and there is still such a long way to go, both this season and in terms of what this group of players can achieve.

The best thing about these boys, and what has helped us have such a good start to the season, is they do not listen to the noise; they are 100 per cent every single day in training and every single matchday. We know when we say ‘one game at a time’ some people might consider it football talk, but that really is the way for us. It is the philosophy that has got us to where we are currently.

We cannot promise anything for 2019 except we – the players, my staff, the people who work at the club and me – will do everything we can to try to make it a special year.

When I look back at this year, one of the things that gives me the most pride is that we have shared our journey with our supporters every step of the way.

I will never forget those nights at Anfield in the Champions League that helped us reach the final; I will never forget some of the special scenes we had celebrating with you at the final whistle in the away games in the tournament; and I will never forget the scenes in Shevchenko Park in Kiev when you showed the absolute best of Liverpool Football Club. When I watched the footage on YouTube and the documentary on LFCTV… wow. What can I say? I don’t think I have the right words! But it shows this club is very special.

Of course, there were many great days and nights domestically, too. We are all aware of the individual sacrifices you make to follow us and so it is important to say that we do not take it for granted. We absolutely appreciate it, 100 per cent.

We are all on this journey together.

I would also like to take a moment to highlight the work of those in our community today, who will dedicate their time to helping others.

Our annual visit to Alder Hey is always an emotional but inspiring experience and this year was no different. It is a place the city of Liverpool can be incredibly proud of, with absolute world-class staff supporting those brave children and parents fighting some of life’s most important battles. I cannot tell you how high my respect and admiration is for everyone there. I will be thinking about you today.

This year has also continued to see the foodbank initiatives continue to support families and individuals across the city who are less fortunate than others. I really love this idea that Fans Supporting Foodbanks is a joint initiative by both Liverpool and Everton fans. I also was delighted to hear about how many donations were received at the recent Anfield derby.

Reds and Blues coming together to help others is something special, something – again – the city should be very proud of, and I know both clubs invest a lot themselves in community work.

And there are plenty more organisations and individuals who will spend today helping and supporting others – too many to mention individually, in fact – as well as those people who will continue to work their day jobs for the care and safety of everyone.

To all of you, you have my absolute respect and all of us at Melwood say thank you and Merry Christmas.

So, finally, we look forward to seeing quite a few of you at Anfield on Boxing Day for another important match, in which your support will be absolutely key to us getting the result we want. We also know that all across the world, many more will be following the game by other means.

I have said before, I absolutely love the idea of people all over the planet all being invested in our 90 minutes of football. There is something very comforting and special about this and again highlights my point about this being a collective effort – players, staff and supporters.

However you spend today, I hope you have a wonderful day.

You’ll Never Walk Alone,

Jürgen