After the season, Jurgen Klopp will depart from Liverpool, but Phil Thompson, a former captain of the Reds, thinks the team already has the perfect replacement.
Jurgen Klopp’s successor should be Pep Lijnders, according to Liverpool veteran Phil Thompson. Thompson feels that Lijnders might step into the position with ease the next season.
Following Klopp’s announcement on January 26 that he would be leaving the position at the conclusion of the season, the Reds are currently searching for a new manager. Former Liverpool sporting director Michael Edwards has been called in by the club’s owners, Fenway Sports Group, to help with the decision, although they aren’t sharing their ideas just yet.
Due to his outstanding play at Bayer Leverkusen, former Liverpool player Xabi Alonso was first predicted to win, but the German team is eager to hang onto him. Lijnders has stated he is not in the running to succeed Klopp, who is also departing at the end of the current campaign. Thompson, though, would prefer that he stay and take over.
“I don’t think he’d [Lijnders] have too many objectors [to replace Klopp], Liverpool fans, if they know enough about the club and the people behind the scenes and the back-up staff for Jurgen,” the former Reds center-back told talkSPORT.
As you see him on the training field, Pep Lijnders is a fantastic coach who exudes ideas and energy. He may be it, and I wouldn’t object. Well, if they made the announcement, yes. Pep Lijnders surely have another project in the works. I will wish him the best of luck in whatever he does, whether he chooses to work with Klopp or independently, but if Pep was offered the position, I would like to think he would have considered it at least.”
Klopp concurs with Thompson regarding Lijnders’ superior quality. According to the Mirror, the manager of Liverpool stated in January that Pep Lijnders was “the most influential guy in the last years definitely in this club.” “He performed an absolutely outstanding job. He is an incredibly amazing source of inspiration for me.”
However, Lijnders himself seems to have other managerial aspirations. “No one will take Jurgen’s place. To be honest, I was explicit when we had our conversation a long time ago, and it made things easier for me,” he said. “Together, we decided to complete this project, and that is the proper course of action. They’ll discover a fresh, creative coach, and I’m eager to take charge and select the ideal team.”
Lijnders was hired by Liverpool in 2014 as an assistant manager. He left the team for a short time in 2018 to take over NEC in his native Netherlands, but he soon came back. Lijnders and Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag were on Ajax’s shortlist for their next manager, according to a report from Mirror Football earlier this month.
