The midfielder's last visit to the home of English football saw Liverpool dumped out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa and he will give everything to ensure a better result this time
In August four years ago, Emre Can was playing the biggest game of his career to date. It was against Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in the German Supercup, which Bayern Munich lifted in front of 69,000 spectators at the Allianz Arena.
He described the ecstasy of winning that trophy, his first, as an addictive feeling that is tattooed to him. During the encounter on that summer night, Klopp’s wide, toothy grin was replaced with a werewolf-like growl. At Wembley in the League Cup final against Manchester City on Sunday, the Liverpool midfielder and the manager will be on the same side hoping to share in the emotion Can experienced in 2012, rather than the disappointment the 48-year-old endured.
The Germans are unified in their belief that being in a final counts for little, if at the end of it there is no silver lining. It a lesson Can learnt long before working under Klopp as he turned out for his country’s youth teams at international tournaments.
“I had a coach, Horst Hrubesch, he said if you come to the final and lose the final, it would have been better to go out in the first round. That's what I think,” the 22-year-old explained in an interview at the club’s Melwood base on Friday afternoon.
There was an extra edge around the training complex after the players completed a morning workout session which Klopp described as “the highest level ever,” which has made his task of selecting a matchday squad for the showpiece “the most difficult thing” he’s had to do since taking charge of the club in October.
That the preparation has been elevated is unsurprising to Can, who believes “that you should put all you have” into ensuring a final finishes with celebrations rather than regrets.
The Germany international had enough of the latter following Liverpool’s lethargic 2-1 FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup semi-final last year.
“I lost the last game I played at Wembley and it was not a good feeling. Hopefully this time it will change,” he said.
“When you have lost your last game at Wembley it makes the team stronger, it makes you stronger, and you don't want that same feeling again.
“You train every day, every session, hard and you want to win trophies. In the last game when you lose it, it makes no sense, and that's what we don't want in the final.
“I think it's the best feeling in the world to win trophies. That's what I could do with Bayern in the Supercup against Dortmund and that's what I want more times."
Can admits that because the bulk of Liverpool’s squad are young and still developing, lifting the League Cup would be especially crucial in helping create a culture of winning at the club.
“It would be very important for us to win the trophy,” he said.
“We are such a young team and we can get that feeling of winning trophies. If we won the final then we can say we are on the right way. The fans expect us to win and we want to win.”
Can insists there is no temptation from the squad to revisit the emphatic 4-1 victory Liverpool recorded over City in November’s league meeting at the Etihad. Manuel Pellegrini described his side’s defeat as “a complete disaster” as the Reds were ruthless in and out of possession.
“Maybe they didn't have their best day when we played against them in the league but it will be a different game,” Can predicts. “It's a final, they will give their best. We can’t compare the games.”
On a personal level, he believes he has “become better as a player” under Klopp, who is able to converse about tactics with Can in German. “It makes it easier as it’s better to speak and understand for me.”
Last summer’s £10 million signing noted there are still many aspects of his game that need sharpening. Adding to his goal tally is a specific target having netted only twice in 37 appearances this campaign.
“I could be better, I know that. I could score a few more goals,” he said. “I am on the right way, I think, and I have to work hard and hopefully then I will be better.
“I think in the last part of the pitch I'm not good enough, not calm enough, and a little bit nervous in front of goal.
“Of course, my first job is not to score goals, but I can score more goals. I have to defend as well, organise the middle, and close the gaps - that's my main job.”
Can, who has been instructed to adopt a box-to-box role like Henderson, is happy to have Roberto Firmino, Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge operating ahead of him. “It makes my work easier when you play with those players with such amazing potential,” he said.
“They are very, very important players for us and you can see that in the game when they have the ball, something always happens.”
Can admits Sunday afternoon cannot come soon enough for him. “In the final you are not tired, in the final you give your best, more than 100 per cent, and it's different. It's my first final here and I want to enjoy it, I want to win it.”
- Goal