Lijnders: There is not a good manager without good ownership

Pep Lijnders believes that FSG have played a major role in the rejuvenation of Liverpool this season by sanctioning a summer transfer spend  window that transformed the midfield.

With a number of senior midfield players such as captain Jordan Henderson, vice captain James Milner, Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all departing at the end of last season, the decision was made to bring players of a younger age and potential to grow into true stars.

Alexis MacAllister and Dominic Szoboszlai were initial signings which were then followed by Waturu Endo and Ryan Gravenberch.

While each newcomer has adjusted to life at Liverpool at their own pace, what it has led to is a greater level of competition and pushed the likes of Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott to raise their game too.

Speaking ahead of the first leg of the Carabao Cup Semi final against Fulham, Lijnders believes the owners who have their fair share of critics amongst the fanbase for their perceived frugalness at times,  deserve some credit as the Echo reported.

“Was their summer spending a surprise? No because we knew we could invest and knew in the summer we would invest. Cody Gakpo was a summer signing that we brought forward to January. We could do that early and it was great. If you look at the number of players we have brought in, that is really great, in my opinion.

“The way we do business and the way our ownership works - of course you are relying on Champions League money, but not so much because we do our things really well. If we do not have it, we don’t do it.

The assistant manager stated that a lot more goes into being a successful club than just results, everyone needs to be on the same page and wanting the same outcomes.

“There is not a good manager without good ownership. The ownership invested in the squad where we needed to invest and that’s already a really good sign."

After a 2022/3 which saw the Reds drop out of the top four and produce some truly abject performances, there was the real question mark regarding what kind of Liverpool team we would see coming into this campaign.

Lijnders made it clear that those bad vibes had to be banished for the club to focus on future success.

“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 [from last season]. Then pre-season starts and we had all the players available for a long time.

"A lot of key players went, seniors who were always the leaders, so new players had to step up – Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Alisson, Trent (Alexander-Arnold) – and they did, they showed up, and then you can start training three times a day, which we didn’t do before. There was a voice in their head saying: ‘We want to be successful and so we have to go through this."

And part of becoming Liverpool 2.0 under Jurgen Klopp was reclaiming that “mentality monster”  trademark which certainly played into the psyche of the opposition, knowing that the Reds were never beaten.

"You need to win games when you think that maybe you are not going to win them. That’s why Newcastle away was a massive one. That creates momentum. In the right moments the team really stepped up."