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The extraordinary role of Pep Lijnders revealed as Jurgen Klopp's trusted assistant explains what really happens inside MelwoodThe first part of an exclusive interview with Liverpool's assistant manager
Pep Lijnders is in full flow.
Liverpool's articulate, passionate assistant manager is lifting the lid on life behind the walls at Melwood.
There's the meticulous planning of every training session, the hours of video analysis, the tactics meetings, the hard graft on the grass and the closely fought games of paddle tennis with Jurgen Klopp.
For the Dutchman with an encyclopedic knowledge of the game, this isn't a job, it's a vocation. His enthusiasm is infectious.
“For me this is important because football is my life,” he told the ECHO during an exclusive interview.
“I need this set-up, this relationship with the people around me. We know where we want to go.
“We focus constantly on our process giving the team everything to be prepared and to make the next steps. In football it’s not many times where everything falls into place, you must cherish those times.”
Lijnders is the trusted lieutenant helping to plot Liverpool's remarkable challenge for both Premier League and Champions League glory.
The 36-year-old has relished the extra responsibility he's taken on since returning to Melwood last summer.
It was telling how quickly Klopp moved to bring him back to Liverpool following a short spell in charge of NEC Nijmegen in the second half of last season. He has expertly filled the void created by Zeljko Buvac's exit.
Lijnders enjoys equal status with fellow assistant Peter Krawietz, the man nicknamed 'The Eye', whose association with Klopp dates back to their time together at Mainz.
“I feel good. It’s a role that suits me, especially next to Jurgen,” he said.
“He is the motivator, the stimulator behind every forward step we make but he gives responsibility to the ones he trusts.
“I’m responsible for training and giving direction towards a plan for the week that gets the most out of the team. Together with Jurgen and Pete, we decide where we want to go in our sessions and I will make sure it’s getting done. Everything we do is training is related to our ideas. Every exercise is specific to what we want to build.
“I prioritise what's more important to train and to let our ideas evolve - fundamental principles but in a less complex way. Then I create and contextualise specific exercises, where we want our players to learn, acquire and develop. I focus on what we can control, practise fundamentals of our game.
“I believe that you become what you believe so we stimulate high on and off the pitch standards. We work as hard as possible and see each training session as the game.
“I’m not trying to be a coaches’ genius or give too much information, but to repeat ‘our way’ in each single minute of training.
“Our goal is to prove in each game that we are the better team. You can’t feel fear in these stages of the season and the only way to erase this kind of fear is by training well and hard.”
Lijnders' rise has been meteoric. He initially joined the Reds' Kirkby Academy from Porto in 2014 when he took over as under-16s coach.
His impact was such that the following year he was promoted to the senior set-up by Brendan Rodgers and given the title of first-team development coach.
Lijnders' reputation ensured that Klopp retained his services and over the past three-and-a-half years a strong bond has developed between the two.
There is no doubt who's the boss but one of Klopp's great strengths is his willingness to seek and take on board the input of those in his inner circle.
“Jurgen is someone you can’t stop learning from because he surprises you so many times,” Lijnders said.
“He can create a feeling of belief and determination for a whole group of players in two sentences.
“Life is a team sport. It’s just a great group of people together. Peter is one of the world’s best analysts because he finds solutions to the problems that we are going to face, but he finds them before the problems arise, which is very smart.
“Better people make a better team. If you don’t think of your team as a family, why should the team see us as the leaders of the family?
“Jurgen listens to my plans. We always talk everything through - preparing each detail in each game moment. Jurgen knows so well what he wants but is someone who believes in cooperation.
“The team is playing now with a lot of freedom and this is important because many teams sit in. We had problems before with teams who drop off and control space but we found solutions.”
The “madness” of Lijnders' working day starts long before Klopp's stars arrive at Melwood and continues long after he's returned home to Formby.
He liaises closely with the Reds' head of fitness and conditioning Andreas Kornmayer. It's a constant cycle of reviewing, studying and planning.
“A day in football is designed around the session - the main moment to give our players an impulse,” Lijnders explained.
“I don’t live on a normal Monday or Tuesday, but on a matchday -1 or -3. It’s madness.
“Let’s start the day from the moment the session ends. I watch the session back when I come back in the office, make some notes, talk with the head physio about availability for the next day and if the players responded well to the session.
“Peter shows us opposition clips, while Jurgen, me and Peter discuss organisation both defensive and offensive. Jurgen and myself discuss the next day in terms of planning. Andreas will provide us with the data of the session, how many sprints, how much high-speed running.
“We believe that the tactical component takes the physical component by the hand so it’s important to check if we got the output we wanted.
“Normally, Andreas and I will discuss the next day's warm-up and whether some players need a top up or extra work before the session.
“The week plan is a very logical set up of experiences for the players. We want to create an identity so our model is everything. We want our players to not lose concentration so the choice of exercises is very important.”
The paddle tennis court that Klopp had installed at Melwood provides a release for the staff from the stresses and strains.
“If Jurgen and me have time, we play a game of one v one,” Lijnders said.
“We play at a similar level so it’s perfect to have that distraction away from football. He always finds a way to get back in the game!
“When I get home at night, I normally prepare the next day’s session in detail and watch opposition clips.
“When I arrive at the club in the morning (goalkeeping coach) John Achterberg is normally already here. Sometimes I think he just never leaves!
“Jurgen and I have a short meeting to talk the day through. Peter and I talk the session through to make sure all opposition specific features are in it. Then I go out and set everything up on the pitch.”
For Lijnders, the next challenge Liverpool face is extra special. He spent seven years coaching in Porto's Academy after being recruited from PSV Eindhoven in 2007.
Working across all age groups from the under-8s through to the under-19s in Portugal, he was instrumental in bringing through a new generation of exciting talent, including the likes of Diogo Dalot, Ruben Neves, Andre Gomes, Andre Silva and Joao Felix.
“Porto and FC Porto will be forever with me,” he smiled.
“They approached me from PSV to restructure their academy. Without speaking the same language, we understood each other. I signed a one-year deal but after six months we extended it by another three years. It was a beautiful time.
“I delivered three sessions a day and in between I had three hours of Portuguese lessons. The sessions were with only one goal - offensive aggression, create to score.
“It's a club with high values and humbleness. We were part of a very successful period - winning five championships, the Europa League and eight cups.
“Pinto da Costa (Porto president) built a winners’ institute. Some clubs are in the job because of the game, Porto is in the job to win silverware.
“We created a new generation of Porto players who could represent this culture, but with a high level of technique and attacking mentality on top of their guts and ambition.
“They could have played with a whole team of home grown players if they had wanted. The last generation of the project is knocking on the door with Fabio Vieira, Fabio Silva and Joao Mario.
“Porto made a real impact on me as a coach but even more as a person. I will forever speak about them with a great responsibility.”
Friends will be reunited at Anfield on Tuesday night before it's down to business in the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
Lijnders has no time for suggestions that the draw did Liverpool a favour by pairing them with the Portuguese champions. He expects Sergio Conceicao’s side to be fired up by the painful memories of last season's 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Reds in the last 16.
“I know how they think,” Lijnders added.
“They have a culture where they fight against everything and everyone. Their mentality is their biggest strength.
“They will love the chance to go again against us. Adversity makes them stronger, quicker and more precise.
“It’s still a very aggressive and compact team that easily switches between defensive and offensive. They know how to fight, to compete for the ball and to change games around.
“They can switch between 4-4-2 and 4-5-1. They have a great mix of different talent but as a whole they have a clear identity. They can create problems in many different ways. At Porto, they love the ones who hate to lose.
"There are not many clubs in Europe with more history, tradition, culture and stadium atmosphere than FC Porto, but Liverpool FC is definitely one of them.
"I’m part of this special club and to compete against my old team with Liverpool FC makes me very proud and humble."
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/extraordinary-role-pep-lijnders-revealed-16098141