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Pep Lijnders finds himself in the unfamiliar territory of the home dugout as Liverpool visits the Etihad Stadium today.
Jurgen Klopp’s long-time assistant will be trying to plot the Reds’ downfall as they face Manchester City, having joined Pep Guardiola’s backroom staff as his new assistant during the summer.
Lijnders of course played a big role in Liverpool’s success under Klopp, having been the German’s right-hand man as the Reds were crowned champions of Europe, the world and the Premier League in the space of just over a year, while bringing plenty of other trophies back to Anfield along the way.
Lijnders, along with long-time Liverpool analyst James French, started in his new role during the summer before the Club World Cup, having been left looking for a new job after being fired by Red Bull Salzburg last December.
Before making his return to the Premier League though, the former Liverpool coach made sure to put in some calls with those he worked alongside at Anfield.
According to The Athletic, Lijnders called Klopp to tell him he had decided to take the job at City, while also speaking to FSG president Mike Gordon, who wished him well and reassured him that their relationship wouldn’t change.
Not only that, but Lijnders also called Arne Slot “out of respect”. The current Liverpool boss was in regular contact with Lijnders during his first season in charge at Anfield, with the pair’s friendship going back to Slot’s early days as a coach.
“I met up with Pepijn Lijnders, the former assistant of Jurgen who sat in this office,” Slot said in an interview back in November when discussing his influences.
“I did my courses and all these kind of things but I learned the most when it comes to training exercises because of that meeting.
“We spoke about his ideas, my ideas and how to transmit them to the players. It was interesting to me because he had similar ideas in terms of how he wanted to play and training sessions.
“He just made me creative by saying ‘In this exercise, I’ve got this rule. In that exercise, I’ve got that rule’. And that just opens up a completely new world again because you can look at every exercise in a different way.
“What helped me the most was having conversations with different people and Lijnders was one of them.”
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It’s clear to see the respect Lijnders still has for Liverpool, and Slot in particular, with the former Reds coach paying tribute to the work done by his successor.
“What is happening now with Arne, doing the job he is doing… wow, it makes me really grateful,” Lijnders told the Daily Mail last year.
“I feel blessed to see it, the way the club is doing and performing on a really high level. Certain players are flourishing and making the next steps.”
“That was the whole idea of us leaving early, so this could happen and the club can continue to grow. I owe Liverpool everything. I owe the fans and players everything. It was my life. For 10 years, it was the only thing I thought about.”
An original version of this article was first published on June 10, 2025.
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