'I hope': Pep Lijnders had strangely little to say when asked about Mohamed Salah after Man City 4-0 Liverpool
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Pep Lijnders took charge of Manchester City on Saturday as they hammered Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup.The Dutchman is intrinsically linked with the Reds having spent a decade at the club, but showed no mercy to Arne Slot at the Etihad Stadium.Some of Lijnders’ touchline antics were questionable during the game, and his behaviour was also somewhat bizarre at full-time, as he gave a very noncommittal answer to a question about departing Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah. Who was Liverpool’s worst player during the abysmal defeat against Man City?
Some PATHETIC displays 😡 Photo by Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images Having been Jurgen Klopp’s assistant at Anfield throughout Salah’s first seven years with the Reds, Lijnders knows the Egyptian extremely well.He is also generally an enthusiastic speaker, and during his post-match press conference on Saturday he gave some typically long answers.However, when asked for his thoughts on the respect Salah will likely be shown ahead of his impending exit, Lijnders kept his answer strangely brief, impersonal and general.“I hope, he gave seven or eight years to Liverpool winning the biggest trophies you can win in a style which was insane,” he said.Photo by Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty ImagesREAD MORE: Liverpool player ratings as woeful Reds crash out of the FA Cup against Man City“But he will get all of that [respect]. It’s nice for all the guys who were part of that team and that generation of players, they all deserve that.”Clearly, Lijnders is not at Liverpool any more and he does not need to speak about the players he coached so closely.However, his boss, Pep Guardiola, had much more to say about Salah leading up to the game, and given their personal relationship, you would expect a little more here.Maybe Lijnders was trying to be respectful after seeing Salah turn in another dreadful performance and miss a penalty, but having kept his answer so brief, it almost comes off as being the opposite.
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