'I feel blessed to work for this football club'
Head of academy coaching Rodolfo Borrell described Liverpool's supporters as the best in the world after joining fans in Singapore to watch the match against Aston Villa.
Borrell, together with academy director Frank McParland and U21 manager Alex Inglethorpe, was a special guest at the East of Anfield supporters' club Xmas party on Saturday night and, despite the result of the game, he was blown away by the scenes he saw in the Uncabunca bar, where East of Anfield watch their games.
"It was unbelievable," said Borrell, who watched the first half of the game with the East of Anfield fans, before making his way to the Riverview Hotel to watch the second half with the Singapore branch of the Official LFC Fan Club. "I knew we had fantastic fans in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia but until I actually experienced watching a game with them for myself, I could never have imagined just how passionate they actually are.
"From the first second we arrived at the airport in Singapore, we saw the amount of fans who were there to greet us and we knew these were dedicated fans. Then to have the experience I had last night, getting to watch a first-team match on television with the supporters 9,000 miles from Anfield was unbelievable. Unfortunately the result wasn't what any of us wanted but from my personal point of view, to get the experience to spend time with these fans was a hugely important moment for me.
"To see people so closely identify with what this club stands for was amazing. To hear them sing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' and then join in with the clapping for the minute's applause for Phil Taylor before the game and then again in the 19th minute for Stiliyan Petrov... It was as if they were there in the stadium with the other 45,000 fans.
"It was such a nice feeling to be amongst the fans. I feel blessed to work for this football club and to be able to experience a moment like that with the fans. To me, Liverpool supporters all over the world are very well educated as to what makes Liverpool Liverpool. I always say that our fans are the gold of the club. I've always thought that and I think it's true.
"There's obviously a lot of history at this club and many great players have worn the red shirt but, to me, the fans are what makes this club special. The atmosphere that fans create, both at the match and even in a bar 9,000 miles away, is unique. I think you need to come from abroad, like me, to really understand that because maybe in Liverpool, people think the way our crowd supports the team is normal.
"Let me tell you this, it's not normal - it's unique. I've come from a very big club in Barcelona with a great history, good fans and a beautiful city - but the Barcelona fans are not like the Liverpool fans. They are good fans - as every club in football has good fans - but they are not great fans in the way that Liverpool fans are great."
To see more pictures from the evening Rodolfo spent with the fans, click here>>