Pep Lijnders has every cause to be happy on Wednesday, the day he turns 41. Not only has his wife given him wonderful gifts, but everything in his life at Liverpool is going great.
Ten years will have passed since Lijnders initially joined Liverpool in this year. He attended the Academy for a full year before moving up to No. 2 for Brendan Rodgers in 2015. He thrived under Jurgen Klopp after Rodgers was fired in October 2015, rising to the position of No. 2 for the coach.
Lijnders is unquestionably the next manager-in-waiting for the Reds, with Klopp still under contract at Liverpool until 2026, when he becomes 59. Although he spent six months coaching NEC Nijmegen in his home Holland in 2018, he has even more experience at Anfield than Klopp has. He would be the continuity choice.
But since the bootroom era, when Liverpool appointed from inside between 1959 and 1991, football has undergone a significant transformation. It was demonstrated during Roy Evans’ tenure as manager from 1994 to 1998 that No 2s don’t necessarily turn into profitable No 1s. During his brief tenure as NEC’s manager, Lijnders didn’t accomplish much and left the team after just six months after failing to get them promoted back to the Eredivisie.
Alternatively, Liverpool can search for the applicant who provides the ideal balance of achievement and club knowledge. For a number of years, Steven Gerrard was this contender, and both at Liverpool and Rangers, his coaching career advanced nicely. He gained experience with Liverpool’s youth teams before winning Rangers’ first championship in ten years in 2021.
