Pressing and padel - how Pep Lijnders has brought new energy to Man City

Manchester City assistant manager Pep Lijnders has used his experience at Liverpool to help Pep Guardiola and his young squad

Intense. That was the first word that came out of the mouth of Pep Lijnders when asked to explain his boss and he knew from the moment he had said it that it was funny. Funny because of Pep Guardiola's reputation for it, but also because he himself is so associated with the word that it was the title of the book he wrote detailing Liverpool's title win in 2020.

Lijnders is a man for details and his chronicle of the title win was so informative it saw some question why it was allowed to be published when Liverpool tailed off the following season. Rejecting the accusations, the Dutchman said: "If you don't know what to buy as a Christmas present, please buy it for your bitter uncle."

Guardiola may not have been best pleased with the details Lijnders revealed in his absence last week. Where City's manager would likely have dismissed a question about Jeremy Doku's injury by saying he didn't know - the most scientific he usually gets is calling it a 'muscle' injury - his assistant not only reeled off the number of days he expected the winger to be out but also which exact muscle in his calf had been damaged.

FOLLOW OUR MAN CITY FACEBOOK PAGE! Latest news and analysis via the MEN’s Manchester City Facebook page

Lijnders may have been cautious when he walked into the room but he had so much information, and was able to give it so clearly and concisely, that he quickly relaxed and settled. By the time it reached the second half of his press conference, the jokes about Guardiola's intensity could begin and he spoke honestly about his hesitation in joining City.

And it isn't just press conferences where Guardiola has been happy for his No.2 to take the lead. Lijnders has been incredibly hands-on since he joined the club. As early as the Club World Cup, the noise and the standards coming from Lijnders felt like a sharp change from how many other City assistants have operated in training, with the 43-year-old living up to his reputation for demanding intensity and effort from everyone from the first to the last second.

City’s manager has always preferred strong assistant coaches who are capable of thinking differently and not being afraid to back themselves against him. It is why Mikel Arteta, Enzo Maresca and others have gone on to be excellent managers in their own right. And despite Lijnders not enjoying success as a No.1 in spells at NEC and RB Leipzig he has at least had the ambition to want the responsibility that the job brings - as has Kolo Toure, another addition to the backroom staff.

When he is not challenging people at padel at the training ground, Lijnders will often lead sessions for the team, with Guardiola more content to watch and get a feel for how his players are before stepping in whenever he sees an individual that he can help or something that specifically needs attention. The two coaches will then play off each other in the manager's office for hours and hours every week going through different ways that they could approach each individual game, with neither man easily swayed and enjoying the challenge of trying to make their argument the best.

Asked what Lijnders has brought, Guardiola said on Friday: "Methodology of training sessions and vision of part of the game and the freedom to say what we should do, continually talking about what could be better in that way with the player and other ones and one system or the other. That is the funny part of our game, imagining what we can do, what is going to happen, and confronting with opinions for people that you truly believe are incredibly well prepared for their business."

Lijnders has incredible experience in the Premier League, albeit a decade that was spent trying everything to prevent success at the Etihad while he served as Jurgen Klopp's assistant. Hopefully there will be no bitterness at Anfield on Sunday when he returns - particularly given he thought twice about taking the City job purely because of his Liverpool past and Klopp had to tell him that he should take it - but his knowledge should help not just Guardiola but his young squad.

Lijnders joked about the pain of getting 97 points while at Liverpool and losing the title to City, but with a young squad after the last three transfer windows Guardiola needs all the nous he can get. He can now turn to his assistant for information on Liverpool after winning the title and the lessons that can be taken from that rebuild when the Merseyside club dropped their levels after winning the league.

It became clear after Hugo Viana arrived at City to replace Txiki Begiristain as sporting director that changes were coming to the backroom staff. Carlos Vicens had an attractive offer to lead an ambitious Braga side in Portugal while it felt like the right time for long-time Guardiola mentor Juanma Lillo to leave alongside his assistant to allow for new ideas and new energy.

"I had a lot of info from other people about him who had been trained or managed by him at Liverpool. I needed to refresh myself first with new people who have incredible knowledge about the game and the Premier League and I love a lot many things that he did with Jurgen at Liverpool," said Guardiola.

"We talked one day, I think we felt connected immediately. I am incredibly lucky that since the first day I started as a manager all my backroom staff and close people and Pep is one of them."

Lijnders has brought fresh energy to Guardiola and has had the same effect on the players. The fact that the team have run more than any other side in the Premier League this year and are in the top 10 for sprints - up from eighth and eighteenth respectively last - reflects that the players are buying into what the assistant wants.

"He brings a lot of energy, especially in the defensive part," midfielder Tijjani Reijnders said this week. "There he helps us a lot and he has a great technical vision on the game, and is a great addition to our squad."

The team still are not quite where Guardiola or Lijnders want them to be but both men are enthusiastic about the strides that have been made. City's No.2 has regularly shown his passion on a matchday to roar the team on and made it clear to staff how excited he is about this new challenge.

If he can help mastermind a victory at his old home on Sunday, City can show they have the intensity to keep pushing Arsenal and make the Pep partnership even sweeter.