Lijnders has made no secret of his ambition to manage, but devoted his future to Liverpool with Klopp when they and other assistant Peter Krawietz signed a four-year contract extension on Thursday. Klopp believes the 39-year-old Dutchman has all the qualities to succeed on his own, but warned that it could be more difficult to take charge of a team that plays. And the 54-year-old feels that part of the reason for his own bravery is that he has created an excellent staff at the back, consisting mainly of younger coaches. He said: “I know Pep will be a great coach in the future. I really enjoy working together – and with Pete Krawietz – we have fully responded to this project. And that’s all. It’s not even 40 yet, so it’s a long time after all that to be alone. At the moment we all enjoy working together here. “His own ambitions will never stop and I will never give up. I’m a fairly experienced older generation manager. That’s crazy to say, but it’s true. My great strength is that I bring in very good people and then let them bloom. It does not always mean that I say to them: “No, no, no, we did it that way in the past”. No, I’m listening [to] them, because they are much closer because they are making their mark right now. It’s really interesting what they tell you now, and now what I can tell them what we did in the past. “Life is progress and you follow all the developments around you and that’s what we do. And they keep me on track and keep them calm and in line and obviously I can help a little bit. We now have a deal for another time and everyone is really happy for a while. And we do not hold anyone back. “Which is better? Being the coach of the first team with a huge influence in a world-class club or going out there as the main man in the wrong club and losing more often? So we are all smart enough to know not to take it for granted. “This situation. The club gave us the opportunity to build a very good football team. Now we have it, so let’s try to be as successful as possible.”
