Speaking on The Big Interview with Graham Hunter, Liverpool Assistant Manager Pep Lijnders has claimed that Pep Guardiola was one of his big inspirations.
The Dutch coach has been locked in a rivalry with Guardiola for almost three years now, with Liverpool and City often going head to head for the Premier League and Champions League titles.
However, before Guardiola became one of his big rivals, he was one of his idols, with Lijnders claiming that he was inspired by his Barcelona team.
Lijnders was talking with Graham Hunter about the fact he has the same nickname as Guardiola, and he ended up discussing what the pair have in common.
“Well what we have in common is our belief in the way of play I think. That you can achieve a lot with dedicated, specific team training, so he inspired the world with his Barca team, and he also inspired me of course,” Lijnders said.
“In terms of the dynamic of the offence of football, the ability of each individual, the technical ability of each individual and how he puts that, because it comes very close to one of the main guys I grew up with in Johan Cruyff.”
It’s no surprise to hear that Guardiola inspired Lijnders.
Lijnders is only 37 years old, so he will have been watching Guardiola’s Barcelona team dominating world football during the early stages of his managerial career, and you can see that a lot of the things the Man City boss preaches have carried over to his style as well.
Pressing is obviously the main thing that Guardiola’s teams and this current Liverpool side have in common, but the playing out from the back and attacking with full-backs are also big influences.
Perhaps Lijnders will one day be a top-class manager himself, after all, he’s inspired by Guardiola and works closely with Jurgen Klopp, so any gaffer with that sort of pedigree is bound to be a success.
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