Pep Lijnders has already confirmed that the plan is to step away from Liverpool Football Club once Jurgen Klopp calls time on his Anfield career.
The Dutchman will join the likes of Vitor Matos and Pete Krawietz in departing the club.
That said, Jayden Danns’ complimentary words on the assistant manager perhaps indicate that this may not be the wisest decision.
“So, yeah, every time you speak with him it’s meaningful and his biggest message is probably to just work hard and even Pep [Lijnders], he has been a big influence in me as well and his message was to work hard and do the same thing as well,” the Academy graduate told liverpoolfc.com.
The appointment of Richard Hughes as the Reds’ next sporting director has kicked off the official search for a new head coach.
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Next Liverpool manager: Could Pep Lijnders be the right fit?
Football isn’t littered with tales of assistant coaches going on to take their clubs to new heights.
Liverpool, of course, does bear a very rich history in this regard thanks to the mythical Boot Room Boys; an inner sanctum that once boasted Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley, Joe Fagan, Ronnie Moran, Kenny Dalglish and Roy Evans.
Times have since changed to a significant degree, but could lessons be learned?
Lijnders is rightly credited with some of the tactical innovations that have shaped Liverpool’s evolution under Jurgen Klopp.
That said it would be a huge gamble to entrust him with the future of this squad. A bigger gamble, perhaps, than handing over the reins to ex-Red Xabi Alonso.
Judging by comments from members of the current squad, including Danns, we may be missing a trick here.
At the moment, the best fit is Pep. You can go and look around all you want but for the Liverpool 2.0 project, no one comes close.
I think as a member of liverpool coaching staff under
klopp he, (pep )have a better experience with the liverpool squad right now. and his knowledge & experience of the klopp era successful team management combined with his new tactics will make him a v.good manager if not bettter. “But” The trademark liverpool patience is important, he got to be given time.
If they want the best seamless continuation of a great manager in the likeness of Paisley following Shankly, they should look no further than Pep Ljinders. He knows the whole organisation from the five year olds to the present team and the whole backroom staff too. He speaks knowledgeably, professionally and personably at the highest level and is an ‘Honorary Scouser’. He would be better than any ‘outside’ manager who wouldn’t ‘get’ Liverpool as he does, and always has. I have supported my club since I was 15, still attending Anfield home games at the age of 82. Please send my opinion to the relevant board members.
I second that motion.