"A very serious option to take over" - James Pearce on Jurgen Klopp's successor

Journalist James Pearce has recently given his opinion on Jurgen Klopp's potential successor.

The manager's contract at Anfield expires at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign. Pearce believes that if Klopp does depart Liverpool in the summer of 2024, assistant boss Pep Lijnders could potentially replace him.

As quoted by This Is Futbol, he told The Red Agenda podcast: “Liverpool do like that continuity, don’t they? And I think that’s why we’ve talked before about [how] Pep Lijnders is a very serious option to take over if Klopp does go in 2024, because he gives you that continuity.

“The style certainly won’t change, the messages won’t change, because Pep Lijnders is absolutely integral to that on a daily basis at the minute. He already has full responsibility for the training programme. So, it’s going to be really interesting to see how the next few years map out.”

Anfield Watch Verdict

We can 100 percent see where Pearce is coming from. If Lijnders replaced Klopp, it would be a seamless transition for the players.

As Pearce has stated, the Dutchman is around the players on a daily basis. The journalist also made it clear that Lijnders is responsible for the training programme.

An interview with the 39-year-old highlights that he clearly has a good football brain. Ahead of the 2019 Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur, Lijnders organised a friendly game which gave Liverpool a massive advantage.

“Benfica B came over and everything remained secret,” he told The Guardian back in December 2019.

“We gave a presentation to their manager about how they had to play. It had to be like Tottenham, with their set pieces, footballing intentions and defensive organisation.

"We played that game behind closed doors. We even built higher shields so no one could see anything.

"The match took place exactly one week before the final and we prepared everything like we would do during the day of the final.”

Liverpool ended up defeating Tottenham 2-0.

We would not be against Lijnders being a potential option to replace Klopp in the future. But, if a better manager is available when the German does depart Anfield, we would rather see the club hire that particular person.