Pep Lijnders on how Porto helped prepare him for Liverpool role

Pepijn Lijnders has revealed that returning to Porto tonight will be an emotional affair for him, according to LiverpoolFC.com.

The Liverpool assistant manager signed a one-year contract at Porto before it was extended for an additional three years within six months, and he remained there for seven years overall.

“One thing is going back to Dragao, but going back competing in the quarter-final of the world’s best club tournament makes it even more special,” he said.

READ: Van Dijk expects tough game against Porto tonight

READ: Van Dijk: We’re working hard for each other

“There are not many clubs in Europe with more history, tradition, culture and stadium atmosphere than FC Porto. Liverpool is definitely one of them, and I’m part of this special club.

“Porto made an impact on me as a coach, but even more as a person. I will forever speak about them with a great responsibility.”

Lijnders was made first-team development coach at Liverpool in 2015 before stepping into Jurgen Klopp’s senior staff team in June 2018 – he attributes this success to what he learned while at Porto.

“‘There is no collective without good players and there is no success without a collective’ – this sentence captures best how my ideas evolved during my time with Porto,” he said.

“I changed from a coach who had, as a starting point, individual development to a coach who started looking differently to the game itself.

“I never changed the essence – high-intensity, attacking football – I changed my way of thinking about [it], and especially the way to train it.

“I got more structure in my ideas, a better hierarchy of my principles. Tactical periodisation became my frame.

“It was a beautiful time. I delivered three sessions a day.

“These boys gave us energy, they gave us joy – it made the longest session too short. We wanted our players to be able to survive at any situation, to be able to hide the ball by protecting it and to take players on non-stop.

“Above that, we focused on their self-confidence, their willingness to invest in themselves and their self-critical attitude.

“My Portuguese sentiment will never disappear. I really have the feeling I got everything out of my seven years at the club.”

The post Pep Lijnders on how Porto helped prepare him for Liverpool role appeared first on AnfieldHQ.

Source: anfieldhq.com