Pepijn Lijnders

Pepijn Lijnders
	Lijnders in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Pepijn Lijnders
Date of birth	24 January 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth	Broekhuizen, Netherlands
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Team information
Current team	Red Bull Salzburg (head coach)
Managerial career
Years	Team
2006–2014	Porto (assistant)
2014–2017	Liverpool (assistant)
2018	NEC
2018–2024	Liverpool (assistant)
2024–	Red Bull Salzburg

Pepijn "Pep" Lijnders (born 24 January 1983) is a Dutch football manager. He is currently head coach of Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg.

Career

Lijnders began his managerial career in 2002 with PSV Eindhoven, helping with youth training and individual player development. In 2006, he moved to Porto and helped develop their youth academy, working under guidance of Vítor Frade and Luís Castro. During his time in the club he worked under Jesualdo Ferreira, André Villas-Boas, Vítor Pereira and Paulo Fonseca.^[1] In 2014, he moved to Liverpool as development coach under Brendan Rodgers and later continued with Jürgen Klopp as assistant coach, as well as first team trainer with Klopp.^[2]

On 2 January 2018, Lijnders accepted the managerial job at NEC in the Dutch Eerste Divisie.^[3] He signed a contract of one year and a half.^[4] On 17 May 2018, Lijnders was sacked after NEC failed to gain promotion to the Eredivisie in the promotion play-offs.^[5]

Lijnders returned to the Liverpool coaching staff on 5 June 2018.^[6] He was part of the coaching staff that helped Liverpool to their sixth UEFA Champions League win on 1 June 2019 and their 19th league title win in the 2019–20 season.

In 2022, Lijnders published his first book, Intensity: Our Identity, an inside account of Liverpool's 2021-22 season.^[7] Later that year, with the club struggling for form the following season, Lijnders was forced to defend himself against accusations that his book had "exposed" Liverpool's secrets.^[8]^[9]

On 26 January 2024, it was announced that, along with Jürgen Klopp, he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.^[10] Lijnders being expected to pursue his own managerial career when he leaves.^[11]

On 15 May 2024, Lijnders signed on as the new Red Bull Salzburg manager with a contract valid until June 2027.^[12]