Press conferencePep Lijnders on cup final, Kelleher, pathways and 'team behind the team'

In addition to providing a fitness update on Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota, the assistant manager discussed a range of topics – read a summary below…

On the current situation in Ukraine and the decision to move the Champions League final to Paris…

What happens at the moment is truly awful. It is so serious and as a football coach in this moment, sitting here in front of sports journalists, I think it’s not the right moment or the time to speak my personal opinion; it doesn’t feel appropriate. But what I can say is: I’m a father, I’m a brother, I’m a son, I’m a human being, I am a husband. So it’s hard. We think [about] all these people who are there and I think it is the same reaction you guys have, it’s just really frightening. And, of course, if I have to give a reaction in a football way, of course it is the right decision to move the Champions League final. I think each war is a true disappointment for humankind.

On Liverpool’s focus on domestic cup competitions this season…

We have tradition in both, we have history in both of course. This is a competition where we want to bring young talent, where we want to showcase, where we want to launch [players], so that’s really important. I think if you look at the best clubs in the world, what do they have in common? It’s this one-club mentality and our journey in this League Cup shows we are exactly that. Now we are two days away from a final and we want to go in it with all we have and make it a proper game, with our way of course. We want to go to Wembley and see all the fans, hear them and feel them. For Liverpool, not just for us as a group, as a staff, but for the whole club it is a big compliment because this competition is so much more than just the first team. It was a proper compliment to our Academy as well.

On so many players contributing to the Reds reaching the final…

I think Caoimh is a really good example. If you look at him, he is going to play the final – if everything goes well tomorrow, of course, in training. Him reaching the final, it shows there is an inside path for all young goalkeepers inside our club. It’s a compliment for the goalkeeper department, of course, to have this trust, for the manager to have this trust. But this is what I like: it’s possible for a young goalkeeper in our club to reach a final; with time, with a lot of training, with a lot of games, with a lot of steps. That’s really nice to see.

On how his relationship with Jürgen Klopp works…

First of all, Jürgen is so much more than a colleague to me. I’m really grateful and really happy with the way we work together. It’s a commitment based on respect, it’s a commitment based on trust. With this trust comes a lot of freedom, with this trust comes a lot of opinion. I think it’s not just me and him, of course, there are so many more backroom staff who are constantly in our ears to make decisions and to put us on the right path. If you see our team’s togetherness, this comes from something. As a staff, as a group of people who show leadership, it is probably the most powerful tool. We want our team to be how we are. That’s why it’s so important that they feel and see the manager and the assistant manager and the other assistant manager, Pete, Vitor, Jack, John, Taffa, Andreas, all of us, are so close. There is a team behind the team and I believe the manager is as good as the team behind the team.

On Chelsea…

Two Champions League-level teams are going to compete for a trophy. We go there to compete against the champions of Europe, we are going there to compete against the champions of the world at this moment in time. We know Chelsea are a top, top team with so much, not just experience but technique and experience. I feel that they are the team who always find the spaces the opposition doesn’t occupy, so we leave space behind our three forwards or four defending, they use, we leave space on the opposite side, they use, we leave spaces between the lines, they use. We have to be spot on in two days but we really look forward to it because we know – and this is what the manager always says – we don’t want to be the best team in the world but we want to be the team who beats or is capable in each moment in time, in each moment of the season, to beat the best teams in the world. And that’s what we’re going to try in two days.

On the ability to carry the ball out from the back that saw Joel Matip score against Leeds United…

As always, we are constantly searching for new weapons, we’re always searching for new dynamics to bring the ball out from the back. We see that our team became better at recognising when to step and when to switch quick, with Joel but also with Ibou, also with Joe and with Virg, sometimes going into midfield like that. When they are the free player, when there is space, they can really go in to commit. It’s not the first time that it happened because we call this the classic Joel dribble, he does this a lot in small-sided games, for example, he comes a lot one-v-one against the goalkeeper when we play five-v-five or six-v-six. I really believe our positional game, or the way we bring the ball out from the back, improved massively over the years. This is one of these steps we had to make: that our centre-halves are able to. Basically, you want to create the last pass from everywhere and that should even be a centre-half who is able to play the last pass. Even Ali should be able to play the last pass. Then you see the team is connected and that’s a good sign.

On Caoimhin Kelleher…

I was the coach of the U16s when we signed him so he came into my team. We saw from the start all the things that he shows now on a really high level, he had at that time. In each healthy pathway to a first team it is about faith and about patience. That’s hopefully what you see we try to do with all of our talents. And on the right moments, the right games, the right moments, the right steps, they can make the next step. If I speak about Caoimh, then I have to refer as well to Adrian because Adrian played against Preston and I don’t know if you remember, he saved [us] two times at 0-0, two incredible saves.

What I like as well is that Ali played the semi-final, so it’s a compliment for John and his goalkeeping team because we used all three goalkeepers. Leicester, Daka shoots, he saves, Dewsbury-Hall, he saves, he saves two penalties. At Norwich he saved a penalty to bring us through. Arsenal, Martinelli comes through [with a] first-corner shot, he saves. So he earned the right to play in this final, probably that’s what I love the most – our talents don’t let us down and they never did. I like that Caoimh is making that step and we’re just really happy we don’t have only Ali, we have Caoimh and we have Adrian and on the moment Adrian was called up he made the difference and that’s why as well we are in the final.

On how the club will handle the involvement of the young players who featured earlier in the competition…

First of all, we speak a lot with them, so it’s not like that we do something different now. They know and they feel that they are our talents and they are part of our squad. What’s important is that they travel with us, at least the ones who are constantly with the first team, so Tyler, Kaide. So even when they don’t reach the squad, they travel. If I say now a name Jürgen will change it! If you are part of Liverpool Football Club you don’t get a better or worse feeling if you are selected or not, you get a feeling by the people who are working here – and not just the coaching staff, all of us. We believe in this inside pathway to bring talents and to give chances and to launch, and that’s why I’m extra proud that we reached the final in this competition, because this competition was all about the journey and we made the final.