‘They asked me back’ – Pep Lijnders makes ‘crazy’ Liverpool admission after Jurgen Klopp’s decision

Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders has admitted he has felt “freedom” for the first time in the last two weeks as he nears the end of his Reds career.

The Dutchman, who will leave the club at the end of the season to become coach of RB Salzburg, is among the departures from the back following Jurgen Klopp. Elite development coach Vitor Matos will also move away from Merseyside to join Lijnders in Austria, while Peter Krawietz and goalkeeping coaches John Achterberg and Jack Robinson will depart.

Jurgen Klopp announced in January that he would step down as manager after nine years and Sunday’s visit of Wolves marks the final game of the German’s tenure at Anfield.

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– Do you know what madness is? says Lijnders speaking to Algemeen Dagblad. “In the last two weeks, I felt freedom for the first time. The pressure is gone. There is nothing left to gain or improve.

“We finished third in the competition this season and we won’t play the final again. You just live ‘in the moment’.” At home against Spurs we have already seen what this means.

“You get it all and better, the chant of the fans, a whirlwind Anfield. Honestly? I’m actually disappointed I didn’t enjoy it more this whole time.”

Lijnders continued: “Jürgen always talks about ‘making lifelong memories together.’ This is the best you can do. And it certainly worked. We’ve played special games for the fans too, Liverpool has once again become a club you associate with finals and awards. .

“My sons are 10 and 8, who only grew up with three Champions League finals at Liverpool. And the first English domestic title in 30 years. It was also a whole period without finals and success.”

“At that barbecue on Thursday, I also said something to the players. I praised their character. We lost a Champions League final in 2018 in Kiev and used that to win the final against Spurs a year later in Madrid.

“We lost the Premier League by one point to Manchester City in 2019 and won the league by 18 points the following year. Fight and come back with your principles of play and your beliefs. This is also the legacy of the Klopp era. “

The 41-year-old joined Liverpool ahead of Klopp as he was part of the academy transformation during Brendan Rodgers’ time at the club. He left for his first taste of first-team management in 2018, returning to Holland at hot seat NEC Nijmegen before leaving after three months.

After returning to his native Holland, Lijnders returned to the Reds as Klopp’s assistant and claimed that had the offer been different, he would have turned it down.

He added: “At Liverpool, they asked me back after the NEC, but I would never have done it if I had only been asked as a ‘number two’ in the staff.

“In the last six years I have been given a lot of responsibility. Jürgen lets me do press conferences, match talks. Everything he does himself. ‘We do this work together’,” he always says. And so it really is. I know I’m well prepared (for Salzburg).”