Pep Lijnders knows exactly what to expect when his phone vibrates with messages from Jurgen Klopp next season.
“There’s going to be a lot of shots of his feet when he’s lying down, enjoying the sun somewhere,” he laughs. “Then I’ll respond by telling him that I’m about to do counter-pressing with my players. I’m sure it’s going to bother me a lot when I’m at the beach!
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“Jurgen asked me, ‘Pep, where would you need to pass if you had a year off?’I told my kids “I love you in Hawaii and back” and promised that we would be back sometime. Jurgen said, “Well, I’ll stop by and send you some pictures. “
As Klopp takes an extended break after the end of an excellent era at Liverpool, his unwavering assistant will embark on his own coaching career at Austrian club Red Bull Salzburg.
During a lengthy interview with The Athletic, the Dutchman explains why it’s also time to leave Anfield and shows the main points of the verbal telephone exchange with Fenway Sports Group (FSG) chairman Mike Gordon in February, who showed he would not be Klopp’s successor. . .
He says goodbye with emotion, but Lijnders leaves with memories he will keep forever. He believes Liverpool are well poised to thrive at the dawn of a new era and is convinced they have made a sensible choice with the “amazing manager” Arne. Slot, whom he’s known for almost a decade.
It was in May, when Lijnders spoke to Klopp to talk to him about the future. It was evident that primary adjustments were needed in the squad after Liverpool finished fifth in the Premier League and lost their prestige among Europe’s elite. There was a midfield rebuild to oversee.
“We had just come out of a difficult season with a smart ending,” he said. “We had smart discussions and said, ‘Okay, let’s do one more year. Let’s faint and see how it happens. ” We wanted to leave the club with the Champions League and a team that the next coach can take care of.
“In the world of football, it’s not uncommon to do the right thing because it can be selfish. But I think we did the right thing and I hope the fans respect that.
When Klopp told Lijnders in November that he did not have the power to continue beyond this season, the 41-year-old would also leave Liverpool.
“Jürgen had made his decision and I was very transparent that it was the right time to forge my own path,” he says. “In the last 3 years, I’ve said ‘no’ to a lot of clubs. The reason I stayed was out of loyalty to Jürgen and the FSG. I was really looking forward to going there and showing what I can do.
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Has he already thrown himself into the ring to succeed Klopp?”Jürgen has asked me about this several times in recent years. Last season, Jurgen asked me the question and twice this season, but once I said “no. “.
“The first explanation was that I felt it was a ‘we’ task. Jürgen directed it and I felt we deserved to finish this task together. Secondly, I’ve been in Liverpool for almost 10 years. I was in a position for a new experience: new people, my own staff, my own players. I gave everything I had to this organization of players.
“I think the team would continue on the same path if I stayed here. I think the team wants something new as well. But I never knew 100 percent what my response would be if Mike Gordon called me. You say, ‘No, no, no,’ but then. . . “
Gordon’s phone call came in February, shortly after Klopp publicly announced that this would be his last season in charge of the team.
“Mike said, ‘Pep, we have an idea about you, but I think it’s fair to you that we don’t put you behind Jurgen. ‘Mike is a smart guy. He knew it too. I had obviously expressed my ambition. It was older for the future.
Following Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Aston Villa earlier this month, Lijnders flew to Austria and signed a three-year contract with Red Bull Salzburg.
Clubs from all over Europe have shown interest, adding Porto, Besiktas and Ajax. Part of Salzburg’s appeal is that they will participate in the expanded Club World Cup to 32 groups in 2025, having qualified through the UEFA rankings.
He will inherit a team that finished second in the Austrian Bundesliga after Sturm Graz ended Salzburg’s run of 10 consecutive national titles. As a result, they will advance to the Champions League in the second classification in July.
Lijnders succeeds interim coach Onur Cinel, who took the reins following the sacking of Gerhard Struber last month.
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“They looked for me. Last summer they looked for me, but I said ‘no,'” he says. “When I talked to them again, I had a smart feeling. The way they treated my wife Danielle and our kids when they were treated was crazy.
“I like to paint skillfully and I like to win football matches. I was looking for a club with a strong line-up. I need to fight to win titles and play in the Champions League. Participation in the Club World Cup was another factor.
“I’m a coach who needs to play with a certain style. I need to have the ball on the opponent’s side and when we lose it, I want us to have that preference to stifle the opponent and win them back. The stick is used to pressing, counter-pressing, but he also needs to make a substitution to be more dominant with the ball: to be more artistic with the ball because he feels that the groups opposite him are sinking deeper.
“We had the same progression at Liverpool, where you have to take the initiative in games and create that way. I think the Austrian league, combined with the European competition, is the best for improving the team and the people.
Liverpool’s outgoing elite progression coach Vitor Matos is the only Lijnders member he has with him, with the Portuguese coach set to become assistant manager.
“If you hire too many people, they become two types of projects: one for the ones who have been there for a few years and for the others. I need us all to be together, as one,” he says.
“I will lead, but I need your guys to be fully committed to our task and also to our future. This is the only way to succeed in the long run. I worked for five years at PSV, seven at Porto and now ten at Liverpool. I don’t go to Salzburg for another year or two. I need to pass out there and build something.
Lijnders made progression as a player the draw of his life after seeing his own career hopes dashed due to a serious knee injury as a teenager.
He originally joined Liverpool from Porto as an under-16 coach in 2014, and made such an impact that he was promoted to the senior squad via Brendan Rodgers 12 months later.
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He continued to be first-team progression coach under Klopp before departing briefly in January 2018 to manage NEC Nijmegen in his home country. Their project was to win promotion to the Eredivisie, but they finished third and lost in the play-offs to Emmen.
His tenure lasted just 4 months, and Lijnders was lured back to Anfield thanks to Klopp’s offer of the deputy manager task after Zeljko Buvac left.
“I learned a lot during that short time away in 2018, it was huge for me,” he says. “Without this experience, I would never have been able to help Jurgen like I did with the day jobs he gave me.
“Every young manager who takes on their first job will tell you it’s different when they leave the company and the highlight is you. It’s another feeling to be the number 2. Al go through this, start to appreciate what works. and what doesn’t. It’s invaluable as I bring my moment as a head coach.
Lijnders feels fortunate to have worked alongside Klopp for so long, witnessing up close his other people with control skills, tactical acumen and a commitment to innovation.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better player by my side,” he added. “He just knows what to say sometimes. He has the ability to touch players’ hearts. It created the “never give up” mentality.
“We challenged others one and both days. It gave me the opportunity to plan the training, deliver it, and come up with tactical and strategic plans for us to succeed.
What an adventure it turned out to be. The Champions League victory in 2019 followed the European Super Cup and Club World Cup glory before the club’s 30-year wait for the league name came to an end in 2020. There was a domestic cup double in 2021-22 and some other Carabao Cup. triumph in February.
Over time, the team’s taste has evolved.
“The key to being so consistent after 2017-18 is to keep the combined team longer. Football is a game of relationships and connections. Some players were reaching old age and we added quality to the team with Virgil. “(van Dijk) and Alisson.
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“The three most sensible ones have been very balanced. If you were to describe a false nine, you’d take Bobby Firmino as the best example. It gave us a lot of control over the midfield, both offensively and defensively. Mo Salah and Sadio Mane have given us a lot of strength from within. In midfield, Gini (Wijnaldum), Hendo (Jordan Henderson) and Fabinho can cover a lot of area behind them and also outside.
“Then Gini leaves, Hendo and Fabinho were no longer in middle age, Sadio leaves, Bobby leaves. Solutions must be sought. You have other types of players, so you have to adapt tactically to the players you have. Instead of Bobby, we move Darwin Nunez or Cody Gakpo to the middle. In Sadio’s position on the left, we had Luis Diaz. We have from a midfield capable of covering a lot of space, capable of giving a defensive dynamic to the team, to a more artistic one. Midfielders, like Thiago.
“The season we were aiming for 4 trophies (in 2021-22), we had Thiago, Naby (Keita) and Fabinho still in an incredible moment with Trent (Alexander-Arnold) starting to take up more space inside. As a coach, you start with individual characteristics and build from there.
“In the most productive games we played, it was our counter-pressing that made the big difference, not waiting for things to happen. We had a smart build-up where we played together, so when we lost the ball, we were in a smart position.
“When the excitement gets really strong, the players adopt the tactical plan from the day before. At times like this, it’s education and repetition over several years that makes all the difference.
The Carabao Cup final win against Chelsea at Wembley in 2022 holds a special place in Lijnders’ heart.
“The thing is, it was our eleventh penalty in the penalty shootout and Caoimhin Kelleher scored it. We brought a lot of young players to that festival and that season I had more day-to-day tasks in terms of press conferences.
“Also because it’s Chelsea. With Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, it’s crazy. Honestly, they were one of the worst groups we faced in terms of play. If we gave them space, they would use it. If we were to leave the area outside of doors or between the lines, they could locate it.
Lijnders discusses the highlights – Barcelona’s comeback, Champions League final win over Tottenham and Club World Cup final against Flamengo – and cites the key factor that has sustained them all.
“Our players had incredible character, perspective and attitude. Those 3 things really came together. We’ve created stability by keeping Jurgen, the staff and the key players. And it wouldn’t have been imaginable without the immense strength of our fans. You’ve become something you really sought to do for them more than yourself: give them joy.
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Lijnders had left while Liverpool were still in the race for the Premier League title, but as their challenge faded, the magnitude of the desire to move on began to dawn.
“In the warm-up against Tottenham at home it was the first time in 10 years that I felt really comfortable before a game,” he said. “Before, it was like we had something to play for at the end of the season. “I looked around at Anfield and I got really excited. In fact, I felt the strength of it all.
“My kids are Scousers, they’re nine and seven. They only know Liverpool as their home. They think we’ll win. After our defeat to Crystal Palace (in April), I looked at my son in the stands and he had his arms outstretched and he said, “What?How?” He blamed me!
Real Jurgen Klopp – an Athletic series
Lijnders is excited about the future of his remaining young team and believes Liverpool made the right choice by signing Arne Slot. The outgoing Feyenoord coach was on staff at Dutch club Cambuur when Lijnders met him.
“I know Arne very well. I came home to Holland about nine years ago,” Lijnders reveals. “He came to talk to me about football. He drove a long time to see me and had a thousand questions. I tried all of them!
“Since then we have been in close contact. He is a manager who knows exactly what he needs and has the joy of playing for a club like Liverpool.
“There are similarities between Feyenoord and Liverpool.
“You want a coach like Arne who is close to what we’ve tried to do over the years, in terms of having the ball in the opposition half, pressing, counter-pressing; It’s very strategic from that point of view. He has made smart progress and now he has the opportunity to take another big step.
“When I talked to Mike (Gordon) and Jurgen, I told them they wanted a young coach who could grow with this new team. Arne has everything in him to succeed here.
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And what about Klopp’s future? He has pledged to take at least a year off before returning to management.
“In the life we’ve been leading as a coach, and I’ve been living it for 22 years, there’s no more issue than the next game,” Lijnders said. “You have an hour of joy before you start thinking about the next game. “.
“By doing this for so many years at the point that Jorgen has reached, you get to an age where you need to wake up in the morning and just think, ‘What time do I deserve to go to the bakery?’Do I take the motorbike or the car? What time should I book this paddle tennis court?Simple things.
“I don’t know if he’ll do it again, but he’ll do a lot of smart things for the world. It will generate a lot of interest and I know I will get a lot of photographs of your vacation.
(Top photo: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC Getty Images)