Pep Lijnders has revealed why he jokingly threatened to punch people in the face when the Liverpool first-team squad reassembled for pre-season training last July.
The summer of 2023 was a period of change at Anfield, with several long-serving stalwarts departing and the midfield radically overhauled with four new signings.
The Reds were hoping to put a disappointing 2022/23 campaign behind them, one which resulted in their lowest league finish for seven years, and Jurgen Klopp’s assistant was intent on immediately drawing a line in the sand once the squad convened in pre-season.
Speaking to The Times, Lijnders said: “We really drew a line before pre-season started. I said as a joke that if anyone was negative in this building I would punch them in the face. I said that to every single one of them. Just to make sure that we didn’t carry anything over.”
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Lijnders’ blunt yet clearly humorous threat appears to have had the desired effect, with the summer reset working wonders thus far.
Just beyond the halfway point of the season, Liverpool sit top of the Premier League, have cruised into the last 16 of the Europa League and are favourites to win a second Carabao Cup in three years.
Contrast that to last term, when we were mid-table domestically at this point, crashed out of both cups by the end of January and were humiliated 5-2 at Anfield by Real Madrid in the Champions League round of 16.
The large-scale changes in playing personnel may have helped with throwing a blanket over the previous campaign and starting afresh, as several players would’ve come in without the baggage of 2022/23 lingering over them.
It definitely seems as if any enduring negativity from last term was left at the door when the Liverpool squad convened for pre-season six months ago, judging by the confidence and resilience they’ve shown ever since then. Lijnders’ message on the first day back appears to have struck the perfect note.
#Ep98 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️