Jurgen Klopp has revealed that Lucas Leiva and James Milner are the two players he has managed who take it the hardest when they don't play.
Leiva, 36, announced his retirement from football last month because of a heart condition. Signed from Gremio for £5 million by Liverpool in 2007, the midfielder went on to make 346 appearances in 10 seasons at Anfield.
His tally of 247 Premier League appearances for Liverpool is the fourth-most by a Brazilian in the competition's history. After leaving Liverpool, Leiva signed for Lazio in a £5 million deal and went on to win the Coppa Italia with the Serie A club.
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While Milner has been a Premier League regular for the best part of two decades, having burst onto the scene with Leeds United, He has won the Premier League and the Champions League during his time at Anfield.
And in an emotional message to Leiva, Reds boss Klopp revealed how tough the pair used to take not playing.
"Look, my friend, I text you already, but now I have the opportunity to say a few words," the German said.
"What a guy! What a career! Probably, and we have a few Brazilians here - the only real Scouser in all of them, the Brazilian player; yeah, that is you.
"The first thing that came into my mind when they asked me to say a few words was, Unlucky!" Probably everybody has that.
"The second one was your finish; I think it was against Everton, after 25 passes, and then you rolled this ball to someone else after the post. I like that as well.
"I really want to congratulate you on a fantastic career. I want to congratulate you for being a fantastic guy, a sensational person.
"You helped, [and] you helped us from the first day when we arrived here, and you made it really easy. There was a battle between you and Milly [James Milner], not Milly now, but Milly a few years ago.
"So, when you played, you were in an outstanding mood. If you don’t play, I don’t know, it is not the same planet. But when we get older, we can see things a bit more relaxed.
"But now the very positive, fantastic, wonderful rest of your life starts, and as much as it hurts, as I can imagine, you are going to be playing football anymore, I can really tell you from an older perspective that the rest of your life will be really, really, good.
"So from my point of view, I can see you as a manager, but maybe you should not try to work in Brazil because they change their managers more frequently.
"So if you want to work a bit longer, then you can go to England or Italy or wherever you want to go because you speak so many languages.
"And whenever you pass England, you know you are more than welcome to come here and have a great chat about our history, the history of the club, and what is going on.
"I’m really looking forward to that. Best regards to your family. See you soon, my friend."
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