New Salzburg coach

Lijnder’s mission: “Evolution, not revolution”

Pepijn Lijnders (center)

(Bild: Red Bull Salzburg)

In the final meters of a turbulent season, Red Bull Salzburg has made a change of direction. For the planned return of the spectacle, Austria's soccer giants hired Pepijn Lijnders, a Klopp confidant, a coach without a RB past after eight years. "We don't want a revolution, but an evolution. We trust Pepijn Lijnders, who we have been observing for a long time, to achieve this further development," said managing director Stephan Reiter.

Since the Spanish double coach Oscar Garcia (2016-2017), Salzburg have only hired coaches who had previously been familiar with the customs of the Red Bull soccer empire. Marco Rose, Jesse Marsch, Matthias Jaissle, Gerhard Struber and, most recently, Onur Cinel on an interim basis - the trend in the country's biggest talent factory was to even train the first-team coach themselves.

The desired solution that has now been realized does not come from the club's own cosmos, but promises fast-paced soccer made by Jürgen Klopp. With a six-month interruption, the 41-year-old has worked for the Reds as assistant coach alongside Brendan Rodgers and then Klopp since 2015. Champions League winner, English champion and Club World Champion is on his business card, a penchant for nurturing talent was a basic requirement for a Salzburg engagement.

"His personal background, his experience in the development of young players and top players speak for this coach. The path we want to take and his approach make for a perfect match," said Salzburg's sporting director Bernhard Seonbuchner on Friday.

"Offensive, passion, hunger for success"
For only his second stint as head coach - his first in Nijmegen ended after 22 games - Lijnders says he has an "offensive style of play" with "passion and hunger for success as the basis of everything" in mind. At least for now, that sounds like the fulfillment of the brand essence that Salzburg embodied less and less under Jaissle and Struber.

Praise from Klopp
The Portuguese Vitor Matos, a long-time companion of Pepijn, will work as co-trainer in Salzburg. Klopp, who is leaving Liverpool, praised both coaches on Friday as having a "bright future, I've always said that". "They are incredible coaches, fantastic coaches - they have been the most influential coaches I have ever had because together we have developed a style of play that I really love."

Sunday will decide whether Pepijn will coach Salzburg as Austrian champions in the Champions League, or have to go through the qualifying mill with a runner-up. Two points behind Sturm Graz, the Bulls no longer have their fate in the long-distance title duel in their own hands.