47-year-old reacts after being told he’s leaving Liverpool now

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Liverpool throw-in coach Thomas Gronnemark has given his immediate reaction to being told he’s no longer needed at Anfield.

The Dane announced yesterday that he and Liverpool have parted ways after five years of working together. Expanding on that decision while speaking to The Athletic, Gronnemark has insisted that it was completely the club’s call. According to the coach, he was willing and ready to stay on. But despite their difference of opinion on the matter, Gronnemark says he isn’t angry at Liverpool.

“I was clear with the club that I felt their throw-in level had gone from great to good this season. If you look at the recent game against Nottingham Forest, the team conceded from bad situations at throw-ins. Going from great to good is not satisfactory for me,” he explained.

“I told the club that I felt the best solution was to increase the number of visits next season so I could work deeper with the players. The second best solution was not continuing at LFC because I can’t have a proper influence going so long between visits.

“The response from the club was that they didn’t think going back to four or five visits a season would be possible and that they will try to work with the throw-ins themselves going forward. I’m not angry, I respect their decision and I’ll always be thankful for the amazing opportunity they gave me.”

Liverpool move forward without Gronnemark

Reading through Gronnemark’s interview today, it’s abundantly clear that he isn’t happy with the way things eventually went at Liverpool. He may not be angry, but there is a lot of regret in his answers.

According to him, his sessions in-person at the training ground had been reduced from four or five in his first two seasons, to one or two in the following three.

Some may feel this is more than enough to get ideas about throw-ins across. It isn’t as though this particular skill is something that needs constant work, more an attribute that ideas can be laid out for and then refreshed every so often.

Clearly, Gronnemark had a different view. But then, he doesn’t exactly come from an unbiased viewpoint.

Either way, the bottom line is that Liverpool have decided to now work on their throw-ins without external input. Having used Gronnemark’s expertise for the past five years, they should feel well-placed to do that.

As the coach correctly points out though, the Reds did really struggle when faced with long throw tactics against Nottingham Forest recently. They just couldn’t get to grips with them. But with Brentford employing some similar plots last weekend, Liverpool stood firm brilliantly.

As a result, we’re on board with the club here. It’s great to get external help from experts in their field. But there comes a point where they and the coaches have to put things into practice on their own. All the best for the future anyway, Thomas.