“Good afternoon and welcome to Anfield for our Premier League fixture against Aston Villa, another team which has started the season well and one that we know will give us a proper challenge.
“I have written on these pages before about the respect I have for the work of Unai Emery and you only need to look at the incredible job he has done since taking over at Villa to understand why.
“Everyone knows that Villa play in claret and blue but they could wear any colours they like right now and anyone who watches football would be able to say they are an Unai team.
“In simple terms, he is a fantastic coach and he has proven that his way of working can be as effective in this country as it was in Spain. The good news is that we have a team of our own which has shown in the opening weeks of the season that it loves a challenge so hopefully we can live up to that standard [on Sunday].
“There has been nothing easy about our first three games. Not that we would expect anything easy, but it would be fair to say that we have had more obstacles to overcome than most.
“The results we have earned in this period have been good – only one could have been better – but what has pleased me more than anything else has been the way everyone, players on the pitch and supporters off the pitch, have bought into what we are doing.
“I keep saying that this is a new team and that is because of the changes it has undergone over the last 18 months or so. So, seeing the way the boys coped with the situation we faced at Newcastle last weekend could not have made me happier. A really good opponent, a passionate crowd, a man down and a goal down – but we still found a way.
“I have been a manager for many years and more than 1,000 games but this one was special and as I said afterwards, it is also one that we can tell our grandchildren about.
“More than anything, it was the reaction to adversity that made me proud. It is part of my job to be demanding and always to ask for more, but even with this I could not have expected that this team could respond in such an incredible way at this stage of its development.
“I would want it and ask for it, of course, but expecting it would be a step too far. That we got it speaks volumes about the spirit that has already been established and our job now is to make that a part of who we are every time we play.
“We are also blessed as a club to have supporters who also know how to respond in moments when things go against us. I would go as far to say it is part of our DNA. Against both Newcastle and Bournemouth, we lost a man but our 12th man stepped up.
“I have lost count of the number of times our fans have done this. You don’t just sense the moment, you also realise exactly what we need and deliver it. I have no doubt whatsoever that this is one of the reasons why the players were able to respond to what we did.
“I could not appreciate this more, but in the spirit of being able to disagree with people who you love, I need to revisit a subject that I have raised before: my song.
“The first thing I have to say about it is I absolutely love it. To have a song sung in my name by the supporters of this club is something so special that I cannot put my feelings into words, but it is an honour that would have been beyond my imagination when I became Liverpool manager.
“I say this because I do not want there to be any misunderstanding. I love that the song exists. I love that it is sung. And, more than anything else, I am humbled that the supporters who I love want to sing it when they come to Anfield. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.
“The only exception I make – and it is much easier and much better to do it in these notes than it is in the heat of a game – is that I would love it if it became a song for after matches are finished.
“During games I want all of the support to go to the players. I want them to feel your backing and I want you to urge them on and keep them on their toes.
“My gratitude for the support you have given me from the moment I arrived could not be greater. But having felt that, I know the difference it can make, so I would appreciate it so much if this group of players could be given the same treatment.
“I know it is not for me to tell you when you should sing which song, so this is just a polite request.”
