Pepijn Lijnders has been warned life after Liverpool may not be as easy as he is anticipating, as he restarts his managerial career at RB Salzburg.
Soccer News, and journalist Bjorn Thimister, cover the former Liverpool coach today as he departs Anfield alongside Jurgen Klopp and heads to Austria to become a number one.
Labelling Lijnders as ‘a bit of a smartass’, Thimister questions whether he is actually ready for the step up to being a manager after living in relative comfort under Klopp at Liverpool.
He says while it is clear the Dutchman ‘has something to offer’ as a coach, and one who has worked at the very top at Liverpool for some time, that’s all been done as a right-hand man.
He’s been more of a ‘sounding board’ for Klopp during their time together but there is a ‘world of difference’ between that role and a head coach.
He was not the face of the club so didn’t have to take the blows either but that will be completely different at RB Salzburg.
The pressure will be on and while some may label him a tactical genius, that ‘all seems a big exaggerated’ as far as Thimister is concerned. Indeed, his failure at NEC Nijmegen earlier in his career would suggest otherwise.
That was a complete failure on all fronts, with Lijnders sacked after six months and ultimately returning to Liverpool not long after.
Indeed, Thimister questions whether Salzburg have been in touch with the Dutch side to ask about their new manager. He believes they haven’t and instead went ahead with the move based on Liverpool’s success under Klopp and assuming Lijnders is the right man because he was a part of that.
He has doubts on that front, as ‘being a captain is very different from being a sailor’ and Lijnders was very much the latter at Anfield.
As far as the journalist is concerned, he needs to prepare himself for life away from Anfield to be very difficult indeed and that everyone, including Lijnders, should be ‘very cautious about the percentage of success’.
