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Inside Liverpool FC – Intensität ist unsere Identität: Mit einem Vorwort von Jürgen Klopp
In seinem einmaligen und hochspannenden Rückblick nimmt uns der Co-Trainer und Assistent von Jürgen Klopp beim FC Liverpool mit auf eine fußballerische Achterbahnfahrt. Pep Lijnders erzählt die sensationelle Insider-Geschichte der Saison 2021/22 und führt uns hinter die Kulissen des legendären Klubs, der erst mit Jürgen Klopp wieder ganz oben im Weltfußball angekommen ist. Das Buch nimmt uns mit in das weltberühmte Stadion an der Anfield Road, ins Trainingszentrum und ins Teamhotel, aufs Spielfeld und auf die Trainerbank. Dort erfahren wir alles über die Spielphilosophie und die Motivationskünste des zweimaligen Welttrainers Jürgen Klopp, sind beim Training, bei Vorbereitungen, Konferenzen, Teamsitzungen und Kabinenansprachen dabei und erleben so die Intensität des deutschen Startrainers und seines Teams hautnah mit.
Ein beispielloser Hintergrundbericht über einen internationalen Spitzenclub, ein absolutes Muss für die internationale Liverpool-Familie. Ein fesselndes und inspirierendes Buch über Stolz, Leidenschaft, Freude, Schmerz und den Spaß am Fußball.
Ein beispielloser Hintergrundbericht über einen internationalen Spitzenclub, ein absolutes Muss für die internationale Liverpool-Familie. Ein fesselndes und inspirierendes Buch über Stolz, Leidenschaft, Freude, Schmerz und den Spaß am Fußball.
385 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 8, 2023
238 people are currently reading
655 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
December 25, 2022
Nah man. Write all our tactics in a book and now we’re rubbish. Couldn’t bring myself to read it. Fuming
July 31, 2023
(4.1) This book is a little repetitive but certainly eye-opening about what training and coaching a top team is like.
A lot of the repetitiveness comes from the fact Liverpool play their way, with high pressing and counter pressing, whatever the opposition so there was not a lot of varied tactical detail.
It did give me a huge respect for the back room staff at Liverpool and more of an understanding of their transfer policy and promotion of youth to the first team.
It also made me realise just what it takes to put together a season with the maximum games played like Liverpool did in 2021/22. Fair play to Pep Lijnders.
A lot of the repetitiveness comes from the fact Liverpool play their way, with high pressing and counter pressing, whatever the opposition so there was not a lot of varied tactical detail.
It did give me a huge respect for the back room staff at Liverpool and more of an understanding of their transfer policy and promotion of youth to the first team.
It also made me realise just what it takes to put together a season with the maximum games played like Liverpool did in 2021/22. Fair play to Pep Lijnders.
January 15, 2024
A great detailed read about the going ons behind the scenes of the 21/22 Liverpool season.
September 24, 2022
This book is a journal of the 2021/2022 season when Liverpool played the maximum number of games possible in a competitive season, chasing an unprecendented quadruple.
This book was however a disappointment. While for the team the diary may have been meaningful, for those on the outside reading it, it was just a collection of events with no clear theme. Writing was basic.
Pep should stick to coaching.
This book was however a disappointment. While for the team the diary may have been meaningful, for those on the outside reading it, it was just a collection of events with no clear theme. Writing was basic.
Pep should stick to coaching.
May 27, 2024
Intensely dull.
Try as I might, as an LFC fan, to like this I felt it didn't really provide much insight apart from a repeat of 'press, counter-press, do a rondo, be brave. Boys - what an effort. Top. Jurgen great'.
I think this could have all been said in a pamphlet 10 pages long. Even for a die-hard fan like me, I can't recommend this one.
Try as I might, as an LFC fan, to like this I felt it didn't really provide much insight apart from a repeat of 'press, counter-press, do a rondo, be brave. Boys - what an effort. Top. Jurgen great'.
I think this could have all been said in a pamphlet 10 pages long. Even for a die-hard fan like me, I can't recommend this one.
January 11, 2023
3.5. Not as good reading a book when you know the end. A little repetitive too. Find it strange to allow a book that I’m sure gives some of the club’s secrets away. Felt like a lot of management speak in there too. And the intensity doesn’t seem to be working this year so far.
February 2, 2024
Very well written book making it very emotional & interesting throughout.
April 29, 2025
What's not to love about this book? the account of an exceptional year for a very special club with i quote, the most beautiful club song with the best message possible, it shows how deeply loved this club is by everybody involved now or in the past.
March 27, 2024
Fascinating insight into the data, stats and tactics that made Liverpools 2021/22 season such an incredible rollercoaster.
September 10, 2024
Great insight for coaches!
June 5, 2023
The blueprint of Jürgen Klopp’s gegenpressing
In 2021-2022 season, Liverpool FC played all available 63 matches across 4 tournaments: the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup, where they reached all 3 finals as well as just 1 point short of winning the Premier League at the very last match of the season.
Although they eventually “only” won the FA cup and the Carabao Cup, it was the first time in history that an English club have a shot at a potential quadruple (winning all 4 trophies) and they do so by breaking numerous records along the way. So how did they do it?
This is the behind the scene story of that incredible season, a sporting diary written by Jürgen Klopp’s assistant manager, Pep Lijnders, broken down into 44 chapters that represent 38 match weeks for a season + 6 more off match weeks in between.
It is filled with many insights on what they did right, what tactics didn’t work out, all the closed-door chaos, the players’ development, the club culture, the role of the backroom staffs that make things happen, down to the small things such as the many different WhatsApp groups or the fans’ love story with Dua Lipa’s song “one kiss” that became that season’s unofficial anthem.
The book, however, is written with the assumption of the readers’ prior knowledge about the club and its players, so it could be a tad bit confusing at first for those who aren’t familiar with the names. But this is a minor inconvenience that could easily be overcome once we start getting into the flow of the book.
And for the rest of the fans, the book feels like a codified version of the nostalgia that we all remember from that season, but crucially with an added perspective from the inside. It reveals the club’s day-to-day operations and what the people inside the management were thinking during that season, which shows a lot about the overall atmosphere, the dynamism within the club, the synergy between owner-director-manager, the players’ relationship, all the way to Jürgen’s special relationship with the fans (and his fist-pumps).
Nevertheless, the book paints such a complete picture on how Liverpool operates that it started to get me thinking, was this the reason why in the proceeding 2022-23 season Liverpool played so miserably? Not because of the burnout from last season, not necessarily because of the unfortunate injuries, but can it be exactly because of this book that reveals everything? I mean, all opposition managers can just read this book and discover Liverpool’s trade secret, their special sauce, and construct a plan to curb its intensity.
They don’t even need to send a spy to the training ground because the book lay down all the strategy and tactics: it shows how they prepare for every upcoming match, the research approach on the oppositions, the detailed game plan complete with the tactical reasoning behind them, and the many different types of drills and trainings to perfect their game plan, in horrific details! Hence, suffice to say that reading this book has been a mix of “oh wow” and “oh my Fowler, don’t reveal that!”
But at the end of the day it is a book that brings out fond memories, that captures the very essence of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool era, complete with great sayings applicable for both football and life in general, which are mostly said by Pep but some by Jürgen and others. Here are some of my favourites:
- There is a saying that the way you speak to your players become their inner voice.
- Dominate midfield and you will dominate the game.
- Talents need models, not criticism.
- We attacks with triangles, but we defend with triangles as well.
- If you try to chase the players, they will always run away from you. But if you have what the players want, they will come to you.
- When you don’t smile, the game doesn’t smile.
- That you lose on the scoreboard, it can always happen, but you don’t lose yourself.
- Our players need to react quickly to defence and create confusion when losing the ball. If you want to explain Jürgen’s football ideas in one sentence, this is probably it.
- Give them pressure everywhere and from everywhere, high and in the highest intensity, and give them pressure in an unpredictable way.
- This is what training is all about: You have a problem, you create a solution, start training and see it isn’t working but insist and keep repeating and correcting behaviours until everyone gets the point.
- A player doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
- A good team solves problems, a top team avoids them.
- You don’t prepare for finals in the week leading up to them - it’s a long, long journey.
- The brain beats the muscle, but the heart beats the brain.
- We will repeat until we vomit.
- The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers.
- What I learned about life is if you stay on track, when you keep going, you get the reward.
- Without clarity there is no consistency.
- Bring together a German who admires Sacchi and a Dutchman who admires Cruyff and you create a monster!
In 2021-2022 season, Liverpool FC played all available 63 matches across 4 tournaments: the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and the Carabao Cup, where they reached all 3 finals as well as just 1 point short of winning the Premier League at the very last match of the season.
Although they eventually “only” won the FA cup and the Carabao Cup, it was the first time in history that an English club have a shot at a potential quadruple (winning all 4 trophies) and they do so by breaking numerous records along the way. So how did they do it?
This is the behind the scene story of that incredible season, a sporting diary written by Jürgen Klopp’s assistant manager, Pep Lijnders, broken down into 44 chapters that represent 38 match weeks for a season + 6 more off match weeks in between.
It is filled with many insights on what they did right, what tactics didn’t work out, all the closed-door chaos, the players’ development, the club culture, the role of the backroom staffs that make things happen, down to the small things such as the many different WhatsApp groups or the fans’ love story with Dua Lipa’s song “one kiss” that became that season’s unofficial anthem.
The book, however, is written with the assumption of the readers’ prior knowledge about the club and its players, so it could be a tad bit confusing at first for those who aren’t familiar with the names. But this is a minor inconvenience that could easily be overcome once we start getting into the flow of the book.
And for the rest of the fans, the book feels like a codified version of the nostalgia that we all remember from that season, but crucially with an added perspective from the inside. It reveals the club’s day-to-day operations and what the people inside the management were thinking during that season, which shows a lot about the overall atmosphere, the dynamism within the club, the synergy between owner-director-manager, the players’ relationship, all the way to Jürgen’s special relationship with the fans (and his fist-pumps).
Nevertheless, the book paints such a complete picture on how Liverpool operates that it started to get me thinking, was this the reason why in the proceeding 2022-23 season Liverpool played so miserably? Not because of the burnout from last season, not necessarily because of the unfortunate injuries, but can it be exactly because of this book that reveals everything? I mean, all opposition managers can just read this book and discover Liverpool’s trade secret, their special sauce, and construct a plan to curb its intensity.
They don’t even need to send a spy to the training ground because the book lay down all the strategy and tactics: it shows how they prepare for every upcoming match, the research approach on the oppositions, the detailed game plan complete with the tactical reasoning behind them, and the many different types of drills and trainings to perfect their game plan, in horrific details! Hence, suffice to say that reading this book has been a mix of “oh wow” and “oh my Fowler, don’t reveal that!”
But at the end of the day it is a book that brings out fond memories, that captures the very essence of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool era, complete with great sayings applicable for both football and life in general, which are mostly said by Pep but some by Jürgen and others. Here are some of my favourites:
- There is a saying that the way you speak to your players become their inner voice.
- Dominate midfield and you will dominate the game.
- Talents need models, not criticism.
- We attacks with triangles, but we defend with triangles as well.
- If you try to chase the players, they will always run away from you. But if you have what the players want, they will come to you.
- When you don’t smile, the game doesn’t smile.
- That you lose on the scoreboard, it can always happen, but you don’t lose yourself.
- Our players need to react quickly to defence and create confusion when losing the ball. If you want to explain Jürgen’s football ideas in one sentence, this is probably it.
- Give them pressure everywhere and from everywhere, high and in the highest intensity, and give them pressure in an unpredictable way.
- This is what training is all about: You have a problem, you create a solution, start training and see it isn’t working but insist and keep repeating and correcting behaviours until everyone gets the point.
- A player doesn’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
- A good team solves problems, a top team avoids them.
- You don’t prepare for finals in the week leading up to them - it’s a long, long journey.
- The brain beats the muscle, but the heart beats the brain.
- We will repeat until we vomit.
- The world is not full of winners, the world is full of triers.
- What I learned about life is if you stay on track, when you keep going, you get the reward.
- Without clarity there is no consistency.
- Bring together a German who admires Sacchi and a Dutchman who admires Cruyff and you create a monster!
February 7, 2025
Thanks for everything, Pep!
August 8, 2022
A must read for any Liverpool fan, and indeed football fans in general. An interesting and personal insight into how much work goes in to a season and exactly how a team like Liverpool work to get where they are today.
The book follows an incredible season where LFC played every possible match in all competitions so it really is a perfect season to receive an insight into.
Pep is fantastic and has really let fans behind the scenes of his work with this book. Really enjoyed it!
The book follows an incredible season where LFC played every possible match in all competitions so it really is a perfect season to receive an insight into.
Pep is fantastic and has really let fans behind the scenes of his work with this book. Really enjoyed it!
January 31, 2023
Este CABRÓN ha revelado todas las tácticas de el equipo y ahora no le ganamos ni al BRENTFORD.
No lo recomiendo.
No lo recomiendo.
January 5, 2023
This book is Pep's journal from Liverpool's 2021/2022 season when they almost won everything. I am not a Liverpool fan but I am a football fan.
What I liked
1) Pep's enthusiasm and intensity comes through. I am a fan of all types of nerds and Pep is a big football nerd.
2) The high level details of the team's training routines and how the coaching staff plan different training routines at different times.
3) Joining Pep on the rollercoaster ride that was their season. Seeing how a coaching staff handle the weight of massive expectation as the noise from the press reaches fever pitch.
4) Reading about team dynamics and how Jurgen, Pep & Vitor work on keeping the team positive.
5) Understanding the basic fundamentals of Jurgen's football such as pressing, counterpressing, first pass forward, defending with 11 men, attacking with 7 men.
6) Seeing how Pep interprets the "Liverpool way" and understanding the organisational principles that guide their behaviour on and off the pitch.
What I didn't like
1) The writing is not great. Pep isn't a writer and it does not seem that his co-author helped to make the book easier to read.
2) There are a lot of organisational secrets that Pep left out. For instance how do they go about the recruitment process? How do the various coaches of the junior teams interact with the senior team.
3) Some games and weeks get less attention than others. This is understandable but it feels like some weeks Pep realised that he didn't have any notes so he summed up the week's result.
4) Pep's description of the training exercises is hard to visualise for me.
5) It would have been helpful to understand Pep's role up front in the book. How much of on field Liverpool is Pep and how much is Jurgen?
What I liked
1) Pep's enthusiasm and intensity comes through. I am a fan of all types of nerds and Pep is a big football nerd.
2) The high level details of the team's training routines and how the coaching staff plan different training routines at different times.
3) Joining Pep on the rollercoaster ride that was their season. Seeing how a coaching staff handle the weight of massive expectation as the noise from the press reaches fever pitch.
4) Reading about team dynamics and how Jurgen, Pep & Vitor work on keeping the team positive.
5) Understanding the basic fundamentals of Jurgen's football such as pressing, counterpressing, first pass forward, defending with 11 men, attacking with 7 men.
6) Seeing how Pep interprets the "Liverpool way" and understanding the organisational principles that guide their behaviour on and off the pitch.
What I didn't like
1) The writing is not great. Pep isn't a writer and it does not seem that his co-author helped to make the book easier to read.
2) There are a lot of organisational secrets that Pep left out. For instance how do they go about the recruitment process? How do the various coaches of the junior teams interact with the senior team.
3) Some games and weeks get less attention than others. This is understandable but it feels like some weeks Pep realised that he didn't have any notes so he summed up the week's result.
4) Pep's description of the training exercises is hard to visualise for me.
5) It would have been helpful to understand Pep's role up front in the book. How much of on field Liverpool is Pep and how much is Jurgen?
September 20, 2022
Instead of writing the book at the end of the season, it has been written throughout the season - week by week, including international breaks and matchdays. This way of writing has a lot of potential seeing that you get fresh memories combined with later revision (I assume).
The story, however, doesn’t read well at all. This is mainy due to the lack of flow and throwing around random quotes from Klopp or other staff members. There are a lot of cliches and repetition about football which might be alright when speaking to your players but not in a book that's supposed to give new and exciting insights. I don’t really feel like I've learned anything new about the squad, but to a small extent it did give some new info on Pep and the coaching staff. So, overall I was rather dissappointed, and I hope there is much more depth in the analysis, training, team meetings, etc. than portrayed in the book. If you are interested in the coaching staff and some of the inner workings of LFC, I would say it is worth a read.
The story, however, doesn’t read well at all. This is mainy due to the lack of flow and throwing around random quotes from Klopp or other staff members. There are a lot of cliches and repetition about football which might be alright when speaking to your players but not in a book that's supposed to give new and exciting insights. I don’t really feel like I've learned anything new about the squad, but to a small extent it did give some new info on Pep and the coaching staff. So, overall I was rather dissappointed, and I hope there is much more depth in the analysis, training, team meetings, etc. than portrayed in the book. If you are interested in the coaching staff and some of the inner workings of LFC, I would say it is worth a read.
February 17, 2024
Really fascinating insight into one of the most exciting seasons in Liverpool’s history. I found it interesting to learn more about how the players/coaches prepared for each game using analytics and detailed-orientated tactics. Plus how a winning but caring culture is created for everyone involved.
It was also great to learn about the leadership approach to creating a high performing team. Working in Learning and Development, it got me thinking what we could learn from football about leadership and coaching and apply this to the world outside of football.
As a Liverpool fan, I enjoyed seeing another perspective to the 2021/2022 season. Including the hard work, dedication and passion everyone at the club brought. It made me proud to part of the LFC family!
Having read this book knowing that Pep will be leaving later this year - all I can say is thank you so much to him for everything he has done for Liverpool! It’s clear he has been crucial to our successes. Wishing him loads of luck with his next adventure, and maybe see him back at Liverpool again some day 😉 YNWA ❤️
It was also great to learn about the leadership approach to creating a high performing team. Working in Learning and Development, it got me thinking what we could learn from football about leadership and coaching and apply this to the world outside of football.
As a Liverpool fan, I enjoyed seeing another perspective to the 2021/2022 season. Including the hard work, dedication and passion everyone at the club brought. It made me proud to part of the LFC family!
Having read this book knowing that Pep will be leaving later this year - all I can say is thank you so much to him for everything he has done for Liverpool! It’s clear he has been crucial to our successes. Wishing him loads of luck with his next adventure, and maybe see him back at Liverpool again some day 😉 YNWA ❤️
June 22, 2024
A sharp insight into how a modern football club is like a swan: serene on top but underneath paddling furiously just to keep moving. No doubt there are plenty who’ll be turned off by what they see as motivational management talk but those cliches only annoy when they’re empty: here it’s exhausting just reading about the sessions and preparatory work that goes into games, so it’s all earned. In the wake of Klopp’s departure and the theories of why he left, the gruelling world this book outlines shows just how modern football exhausts everyone over time.
July 22, 2024
I haven’t rattled through a book this quickly in a long time, maybe even ever. A real nostalgic trip down one of the best years of my life, each chapter bringing back memories of not only the football matches, but the people and things happening in my life at the time. Highly recommend this one to all Liverpool fans, but I’d say most football fans in general would appreciate the look behind the curtain from one of the game’s greatest coaches. A brilliant read and just a big thank you to Pep for the memories.
September 17, 2022
In essance a different way of storytelling. Instead of writing in the end of the season, it is chaptered in each week, including international breaks and matchdays.
The insights are incredible, however I would like to read more of the relationship between players, I think that is what All or Nothing does better in that regard. In matchday, this book focuses on training, pre game and post game review but desciption of the match is relatively lacking.
3/5
The insights are incredible, however I would like to read more of the relationship between players, I think that is what All or Nothing does better in that regard. In matchday, this book focuses on training, pre game and post game review but desciption of the match is relatively lacking.
3/5
November 12, 2022
If everyone was passionate about their job as Pep is the world would be a crazy productive place. Peps enthusiasm shines through in all that he says and does.
I enjoyed getting an insight into the personalities within the coaching staff, the squad, their tactical approach and all the behind the scenes stuff.
A couple of things I think could Improve it was maybe more discussion on losses and how they deal with those setbacks and more in depth discussion on player management and development
I enjoyed getting an insight into the personalities within the coaching staff, the squad, their tactical approach and all the behind the scenes stuff.
A couple of things I think could Improve it was maybe more discussion on losses and how they deal with those setbacks and more in depth discussion on player management and development
August 4, 2023
A great insight into what it takes to coach a modern day football team. Personally I learnt a lot while others it seems didn't which I suspect maybe because some folks think they know all there is to know about 'the beautiful game'. Begs the question: why aren't they doing the job then? This is a book specifically written for fans of Liverpool FC so I wouldn't expect it to appeal to everyone. I loved it.
May 4, 2024
Ahh man the 21/22 season where we dared to dream the quadruple might happen. Sooo close. This is a behind the scenes look from assistant coach Pep Ljinders on that season.
It was such a wild ride and I loved hearing the perspective from someone deep in the club. It's sad that this era under Klopp and co is coming to an end. They've given us amazing memories and turned us from doubters to believers. YNWA.
It was such a wild ride and I loved hearing the perspective from someone deep in the club. It's sad that this era under Klopp and co is coming to an end. They've given us amazing memories and turned us from doubters to believers. YNWA.
September 25, 2022
As a Liverpool fan, I loved the insight into the coaching programme of LFC. It’s not literary genius but taking it for what it is, I really enjoyed it. Particularly the banter between players and the last chapter about the end of the season and the amazing parade.
January 24, 2023
It's clear Ljinders bleeds Liverpool and loves the club, but at times this was like reading a highly repetitive coaching encylopedia riddled with management-speak - and consequently became quite a nauseating read. If it wasn't so insightful tactically, this would be rated much lower.
April 26, 2024
Really strange book. I enjoyed the anecdotes about the interior lives of the coaching staff, but otherwise the book is mostly platitudes. Not a lot of incisive conclusions or penetrating coaching points. Still interesting, even if largely surface level.
January 4, 2025
It's a diary of the team and it's quite meaningful to those in or around the team, but for those on the outside reading it, it was just a collection of events with no clear theme. The writing is repetitive with not much new ideas shared so I'm rather disappointed.
September 3, 2022
Big big fan of this - but like most sports books of this nature it got a tad repetitive
September 14, 2022
Not particularly well-written, but the insight and behind the scenes are worth the price of the book. Wish it was an audio book. Wouldn't surprise me if he goes on to manage Liverpool some day.
September 20, 2022
Masterpiece! For those, who love football an are inside of training process and day life in this amazing sport, it is mandatory read this one. Superb, it is my final word for Pep lijnders.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews