Perhaps one of the most surprising moves of the summer includes Pep Lijnders, who is Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City after spending almost a decade working with Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
Guardiola considers Klopp as his greatest competitor and as a result, Lijnders’ decision to assist the Catalan tactician is considered controversial.
Regardless, the Dutchman has emerged as Juanma Lillo’s replacement at Manchester City and he will be keen to stamp his authority on how the Sky Blues play next season.
Journalist Jack Gaughan shared a clip of the former RB Salzburg boss screaming “move, move, extra speed” as he was encouraging the players to speed up their approach in training.
Manchester City fans were excited as they feel the 42-year-old’s presence will mean Pep Guardiola could be set to play a much more direct style of play in the following campaign.
Man City fans think Pep Lijnders could make them more direct next season
A Manchester City fan believes Pep Lijnders could coach the Sky Blues to be more direct and considering they tend to be quite patient as a team traditionally, this side could be even more dangerous next season due to them blending both styles of play: “Extra speed? Europe is in serious trouble.”
Another supporter highlighted how important it is for the players to listen to Pep Ljinders’ instructions in training to play a faster brand of football next season: “Things like this will go under the radar but will be so much more important than people realise.”
A third Manchester City fan believes Pep Lijnders’ influence could singlehandedly mean Pep Guardiola’s side play a lot differently next season: “Move, move, extra speed. We really are going to be a different beast entirely next season.”
A fourth fan predicted City not to lose a single game next season and one reason is because of the balance he expects them to find in terms of being controlled while embracing the chaos that typified Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool sides: “We’re going to be a hybrid killing machine said it here first lads Pep is doing an ‘Invincible’ season before he leaves, just to mic drop in style.”
Another Manchester City supporter was on board with Lijnders’ instructions, as they feel Pep Guardiola’s side were far too pedestrian in possession last season: “Exactly what I have been screaming about, everything was far too placid and static last season. The coaching staff wouldn’t have looked out of place in [Madame] Tussauds.”
Finally, a sixth Manchester City fan believes that Pep Lijnders’ influence could mean his side return to how they did during the 2018/2019 season when they were lethal in the final third while also being incredibly diligent defensively: “We know Pep has his identity and I think Pep 2 [Ljinders] is going to bring back speed and press. So basically we are gonna be like ’18/19 season again.”
It seems like Lijnders’ minor instruction has already caused the supporters to have their own theories on his style of play.
Pep Lijnders has revealed one of his ‘main principles’ as a coach
Manchester City fans will be hoping that Pep Lijnders allows them to play with more intensity both in and out of possession to thrive in the Premier League, which continues to reward athleticism in today’s day and age.
Lijnders told the Training Ground Guru how key counter-pressing is to him, a part of Guardiola’s game model that he may prioritise on improving before the start of next season.
The ex-Liverpool man said: One of our main principles is counter pressing. Jurgen says it isn’t a proposal, it’s a law. That’s what makes us, us. Counter-pressing is the moment when you lose the ball. At that moment, do you go back to defend behind the ball, or do you want to use that moment to create and score?”
Lijnders said: “We want to play with a lot of offensive aggression. You use that moment to attack again, because many times the opposition in this moment is not well organised. You want to play in the opposition half and stay there as long as possible, because it gives our front three the chance to express more often. It empowers and forces the development you want from individual players. Jurgen calls it organised chaos. It is organised because we spend every day working on it; the chaos is for the opposition!”
