Jurgen Klopp says two people at Liverpool represent the ‘next generation’ in football. The Reds boast two ‘energisers’.
Jurgen Klopp gave an interview to BT Sport this week where he waxed lyrical about two people at Liverpool. The boss clearly believes his coaching staff is at the top of the game, labelling both Pep Lijnders and Vitor Matos the ‘next generation’.
“Pep and Vito – they are like energizers,” said Klopp. “They are the next generation. They have a different view, they are like training machines! I say ‘want to play like this, I want to have it like that’ and they shoot 25 sessions out of their hips, like ‘Bam, which one do you want’.
“And you think ‘Oh that’s really nice’. They keep you young and on your toes.”
Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool
The entire interview sees Klopp praise his backroom staff – he’s clearly very proud of them. He talks about playing in a team and then moving into a coaching team, with praise for Lijnders and Matos standing out.
Lijnders, above all, carries a fantastic reputation at the club right now. Ever since returning to the setup, he’s been prominent in everything Liverpool do – including scouting.
It was, per The Times, Lijnders who really pushed for the club to sign Diogo Jota, for instance. Klopp has since labelled that a ‘perfect signing’ in what will have only boosted the Dutchman’s reputation further.
The question is whether Lijnders has enough in the bank to be the next Liverpool manager. There are certainly suggestions that he could be and the kind of continuity he offers will put him in the mix.
Klopp is quite clearly a massive fan of what Lijnders can bring and, perhaps, that sets him up for an even bigger role with Liverpool. Don’t rule it out.
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