If the average football fan was asked to name the assistant coaches of the top six teams in the Premier League, chances are they would get nowhere near naming all six.
Liverpool assistant coach, Pep Lijnders, is a slight exception though. He has been seen on the touchline without manager Jurgen Klopp there on multiple occasions, and that means he has a higher and more visible profile than others in a similar role.
It has tended to be Carabao Cup games in which Lijnders have been given more responsibility by Klopp than most assistance coaches get. Here is a look at the situation.
Many have tipped Lijnders to eventually replace Klopp as Liverpool coach as the German has always been fairly clear that he does not intend to spend the rest of his career with the Reds.
The trust that Klopp has in Lijnders has led to the coach regularly being the man on the touchline when Liverpool take part in the Carabao Cup, leading to suggestions and jokes about Klopp having a serious disdain for what is the smallest competition that Liverpool take part in.
Like many big teams, Liverpool have always rotated heavily for early games in the Carabao Cup and that has also stretched to the coach. The games appear to be a chance for Lijnders to hone his touchline coaching skills whilst also giving fringe players and youngsters the chance to play competitive football.
Klopp has spoken in the past about highly he rates Lijnders and it is clear that he thinks the Dutchman can be a great manager in the future.
Klopp said about Lijnders in 2018: “It’s good. It’s very, very good. We sent him away for half a year (Lijnders went to NEC) to get very important experience and to have him back now just feels fantastic.
“When he came in the building, everybody was really delighted about that and was really happy about it. He is a fantastic person and a fantastic coach, so it is really important that we have him back and I am really looking forward to working together with him.”
Lijnders himself did not shy away from these suggestions, considering he has experience as more than just an assistant.
“That’s the plan (to be a manager again). That is the plan but Jurgen knows this,” Lijnders said in 2021.
“This isn’t the time to speak about these things because I have a contract until 2024. When the time comes, I will sit down with my management and will see the options I have. But we are in the middle of this project, this beautiful project, and after that I will decide. But definitely, yeah, that is the plan.
“This is not the moment to speak about these things (becoming Liverpool manager one day). I will speak with my management in 2024 and we will see all the options that are on the table.”
Lijnders is going to be busy on the touchline on Thursday night as he will be taking charge of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City.
Neither team would have wanted to be drawn against a direct rival so early in the competition but that is how it has transpired and it will be another great test of Lijnders on the touchline. It is Liverpool’s first match since the World Cup ended, meaning it will not have been a very normal week of preparation.
Rather than his coaching background and abilities, though, Lijnders has been talking more about the behaviour of fans and coaches in recent clashes between the two sides.
“With rivalry comes emotion and that’s good because we need emotions from the stand, we need emotion for our players,” he said in his press conference.
“The only problem with emotion is when there’s no respect, then it becomes really harmful and that can’t happen. It happened, but it’s positive that both clubs are cooperating.”
Credit: 90min.com
