An extract from Pep Lijnders’ upcoming book, Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC – Our Identity, has revealed how the Dutchman helped convince Luis Diaz to pick Liverpool over Tottenham in the winter transfer window.
Jurgen Klopp’s No.2 used Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold as examples of how the Reds could improve the Colombian, encouraging the forward to ‘tear these guys apart’ in training.
Lijnders: “The good thing is you will train with Virgil, Robbo and Trent and they will make you so much stronger. Our idea is to create and score; you will have to tear these guys apart each day in training, which will make you better'.”
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) July 25, 2022
The 25-year-old was something of a revelation after agreeing a move to Merseyside, revitalising the club’s pursuit of a historic quadruple in what was a highly demanding 63-game campaign.
Though we ended with only two domestic cups, there can be no denying the impact that Diaz made at the club and how quickly the player established his importance in what will be a new-look forward line this term in light of Diogo Jota’s hamstring injury and Sadio Mane’s exit.
We’d expect Bobby Firmino to be favoured over Darwin Nunez for the Community Shield at this stage, though we’d be far from surprised to see Klopp roll the dice by handing the Uruguayan his first official start on the opening day of the league season against Fulham.
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