As part of Pep Guardiola’s coaching change, Manchester City has officially announced the hiring of Pep Lijnders, a former assistant manager at Liverpool. Additionally, City raided the current Reds staff by bringing James French, an opposition analyst, to the Etihad.
After being fired as Red Bull Salzburg’s manager before Christmas, less than six months into his tenure as the Austrian team’s manager, Lijnders was promoted to assistant coach.
The Dutchman worked for Liverpool for nearly ten years, first as a member of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom crew in 2014 and then under Jurgen Klopp when the German was promoted to manager the following year.
He briefly left the Reds at the beginning of 2018 to take a failed managerial position at NEC Nijmegen in the Netherlands. He then returned to help Liverpool win all of the major awards over the following six years before leaving with Klopp in the summer of 2024.
French, a set-piece coach who worked as a first-team opposition analyst at Liverpool for 13 years, has joined Lijnders at City. For the forthcoming contentious FIFA Club World Cup, both will be part of the City coaching staff.
“We are all thrilled that Pepijn and James have joined our senior coaching set-up,” stated Hugo Viana, director of football for City.
Over the past few years, Pepijn and James have each accumulated a significant amount of experience in their respective roles. Their skill, application, work ethic, and general dedication are all completely in line with the principles that Pep believes should guide football play.