Pep Lijnders has explained to Liverpool supporters how the club are facilitating our best talent in relation to the new manager.
Young Dutch coach Lijnders has a role now working with our youth players and the first-team, having been promoted over the summer. While the likes of Gary McAllister and Sean O’Driscoll lost their jobs, FSG decided to keep hold of Lijnders.
He’s explained how Jurgen Klopp is too busy with the first-team to actively head to the Academy and scout the top players, so Lijnders takes the best if them to Melwood every Tuesday to work with the German instead.
“The best players of the Academy – the manager of a big, big club doesn’t have time to go and watch them,” he told the Echo.
“So what we introduced this year is the Talent Group so that the best players between 14 and 21, instead of the manager going to see them at Kirkby, we bring them to Melwood.
“We make a selection of players and they train every Tuesday under the eye of the manager and he can see them develop, he can bring them to the office, he can talk to them.
“Everything is organised and each single player has a special programme above their normal Academy programme.
“They get stimulated and influenced to the first team’s standards not just in the department of offensive capacity, combinations, everything that happens to get the ball in the final third, but also in terms of physical approach, nutritional approach.
“All these departments of Melwood are working week-by-week with the best players of the Academy.
“This should be your development; it shouldn’t be the Academy bringing you the best players it should be first-team staff showing interest and creating plans for each single individual to put them on a high level.
“That’s how I try to create a bridge and hopefully that bridge is getting smaller and smaller.”
There are a large number of players currently impressing in the youth teams, and Jurgen Klopp’s arrival at Anfield will hopefully help them fulfil their talent.
Jordan Rossiter, Jordon Ibe and Joe Gomez are the best known and are already in the first-team squad despite still being in their teens, while Sheyi Ojo and Ryan Kent are impressing on loan.
Slightly younger, Bobby Adekanye, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Herbie Kane to name but a few are impressing.
Jurgen Klopp developed young players such as Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gundogan into world-class footballers at Bayern, and will want to do the same here with some of our most promising talent.