EXCLUSIVE: After Jurgen Klopp’s assistant leaves Anfield, Liverpool wants Pep Lijnders back.
Liverpool’s first manager, Arne Slot, expressed optimism that his team’s No. 2 player, Pep Lijnders, would rejoin the team at some point during Jurgen Klopp’s tenure. When Cambuur was in the second division in 2014, Slot was chosen as his assistant by former manager Henk De Jong. Two years later, Slot took over as manager of the team. In order to give Klopp and his team the lowdown on Slot, the man set to take over as Reds manager this summer, De Jong was invited to Liverpool’s Kirkby base last week. According to De Jong, the Reds are hoping that Lijnders, who is departing with Klopp, will return at some point.
“Everyone at Liverpool is really hoping that Arne does extremely well,” De Jong remarked. “Pep Lijnders is leaving, but I got the impression that Liverpool fans all wanted him to return at some point. “He has a great reputation, and they all had nothing but positive things to say about him,” After playing a major role in Liverpool’s victories under Klopp, Lijnders wishes to start his own managerial career. In a major summer of change at Anfield, the Reds assistant is leaving along with goalkeeping coach John Achterberg, development coach Vitor Matos, and fellow assistant Peter Krawietz.
Reds captain Virgil van Dijk stated last month in an interview with Mirror Football that he thinks 41-year-old Lijnders will have a bright future in the game. Van Dijk stated, “Hopefully he will continue to grow, and if he becomes a head coach somewhere then he may be extremely successful.” “You can never predict what the future will hold. As a coach, you also need a little bit of luck and the appropriate conditions, but we will never forget how crucial he has been to the club’s success.
So let’s see what occurs; I hope he has the success he deserves and all the best. He should be eager to see what the upcoming chapter has in store for him as well. I will always be appreciative of all that he has done for the football team.”