Agree with this. Lijnders was clearly valued by one of the best chief coaches we’ve ever had. He also had a helping hand in our most successful spell since a long, long time. It’s out of place to call him names.
It’s classic reactions now; he was never that good, he’s a geek, he’s just a football philosopher, he’s a snake, he’ll never be a head coach, etc.
In my small world Lijnders has never appeared in my past light cone, so how would I ever know what he’s like exactly?
That saidI do not like what he has done here, but that’s all on him now.
Never liked him when he was in the post either Zoran. Spouting off really left a bad taste and - like the ‘football brain’ before him - I don’t think he deserves much of the credit for our success. Neither did the club, interestingly
In other news, I was surprised to see City sign Reijnders. As a Milan fan, I am not happy to see him go, price was decent but not the proverbial slam dunk. He’s a good player, but I don’t see him at the level that City aspires to be.
Yeah I remember you said you didn’t like him even when he was here. That’s fair enough.
But he was really loved and popular among most of our fanbase I’d say.
I feel this is by association rather than because he was really important. Klopp was/is well known for liberally spreading credit to those in his team and Pep is one of those who tried to suck this all up and really monopolise credit. The proof is in the pudding - his ‘ideas’ haven’t worked without Klopp (and the liverpool infrastructure) and we shall see whether the ‘pep talks’ change this.
Edward’s is king geek but also seems to be a decent leader.
Lijnders was part of our success and he helped us win the lot. I’m sure he has a good football brain and is a very good coach, keeping the sessions fresh and interesting. Arguably with the book and the timing he was a little bit too outspoken for some, especially if you like your backroom staff to be seen and not heard. I put it down to the modern world and a changing culture, where a little self-promotion is now par for the course.
One of the best things about Jurgen is that he is magnanimous and speaks well about people. He certainly had good things to say about Lijnders, and I’m happy to take my cue from that. Like any working relationship I’m sure there were times when Jurgen may have had harder things to say, but that is all private, and rightly so.
On the track record so far, with two failures under his belt, I’m not sure Lijnders has it in him to be the top man at a club. Maybe down the line he will get another chance and will crack it, but on the evidence so far, that seems doubtful.
I don’t like the move to Man City. On the one hand they are a top club (ugh) with a top manager, so it’s a great gig for someone like Lijnders. He will feel as though he has the right to build his career and earn a living as he sees fit.
As a Liverpool fan I don’t like it because of the significant cloud over Man City from all their cheating, lawyering-up, obfuscating and thus far spending many millions to avoid meaningful sanction.
It doesn’t sit well with me that a Liverpool man would go there, but I suppose that’s the rub. Lijnders is a football man, not a Liverpool man. Yes, he was part of the set up here, and I’m sure he integrated and loved his time here - but it was his job.
That’s the difference between a fan and a career football man, who may have a succession of clubs he works at, doing a coaching stint here and there for a while, and then moving on.
I see Klopp as different. Yes, he is a football man too - Mainz, Dortmund, Liverpool, now Red Bull in a different role. But Jurgen drank deeply from the well, wherever he was, and he gave his all. With us, he was heart deep in it. The bond was made with the fans and with the city, and it is set for life. So I definitely see him as a Liverpool man.
I don’t see Lijnders in the same way, and with him taking the Man City job that becomes clearer for me. Gun for hire? Yes! But Liverpool is not etched onto his soul in the same way as Klopp.
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It’s one that if it works the way they seemingly hope it will then the upside will be huge. You can easily see how the best version of what he can be will drastically improve this version of city. Similar with Cherki.
There are pretty big question marks about both guys though not least because the marriage between Cherki’s old school flamboyance and Pep’s miserable rigidity seems pretty bad.
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Guardiola broke Grealish. A chirpy Brummie arrived who was a bit of a maverick. Never my cup of tea, but at his best, Grealish was an exciting player.
Guardiola squashed all of that out of him, and now he will try to find another club and see if he can discover any joy for football again.
I haven’t got a clue how Cherki might compare. Will he play with freedom and joy, or will he get Pepped? Another angle to consider is how long Guardiola has left at the club. There were lots of times last season when I thought he looked fed up with it all. Maybe it was just because they were struggling, but my suspicion is that Guardiola is near to the end of the line there.
One more year would be my guess.
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Harsh. What about player responsibility and professionalism?
Just to be clear, I hold Ljinders in very high regard, and the geek comment isn’t intended to be a perjorative.
The things we know to be true are
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LFC held him high esteem to bring him back after he departed the first time.
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He has had two manager jobs and was sacked from both very, very quickly. There is something not quite right there.
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We won a lot while he was here.
On City, he is a free agent so he can go where he likes. I think I remember him saying he wouldn’t take another assistant manager job though, right?
Coach and manager are not the same thing.
The fact he has tried and failed as a manager says little to nothing about what value he actually brought to our team when performing a different role within our set up.
The failure to punish these fucking cheats is now a national scandal. 15 years of distorting our national game has culminated in the UK government, the FA and PL shitting themselves in fear of upsetting some fucking Arab dictator in case he withdraws the blood money he’s pumping into the country.
Liverpool, Man U and Arsenal should have put an end to this years ago.
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Yes. That’s what I said.
Pep and Man City have spent €375 million in the space of six months. That’s massive.
But the moment Liverpool spend £100 million — money they’ve actually earned by winning the Premier League — to bring in a top-class player like Wirtz, suddenly they’re under scrutiny.
And don’t forget, City were prepared to pay the same fee. So you’ve got to ask — why is there this bias when Liverpool do it? It doesn’t add up.
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Numbers 2-4 are likely to play only a small role if any next season as well. A 140 million quid panic surge would cripple most clubs’ spending ability for years. City do it and find it so inconsequential it is like it did not even happen.
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They have work to do and ended last summer with a €140m profit. Of course there will be some sales after these initial purchases. Extra players will help them to go through this CWC. Still can’t imagine what it must be like for coaching staffs to organize this summer. Hopefully next time, when we’re likely there, we will have learned a few lessons from others.
I think they got quality additions in Marmoush, Cherki and Ait-Nouri. Not saying the others won’t come good but these three could be both exciting and effective. Marmoush would have been so much fun in this Liverpool side.
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