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Jurgen Klopp has highlighted the influence of Pep Lijnders and revealed the Liverpool assistant manager reminds him of his younger self.

Lijnders has emerged as a key figure among the Reds coaching staff after returning to the club last summer to replace the departed Zeljko Buvac, officially taking on his new role alongside long-time Klopp associate Peter Krawietz in January.

The Dutchman had previously worked under Brendan Rodgers and Klopp at Anfield before a six-month stint in charge of NEC in his homeland at the start of 2018.

Lijnders and Krawietz have aided Klopp in masterminding Liverpool to a record top-flight points finish and a Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid next Saturday .

And the Reds boss has spotted much that is familiar about the impact of Lijnders on the training ground.

“Pep Lijnders, I could write a book about him, about what a big influence he had, about what a fantastic young – I still don't know what his title is – assistant manager!” said Klopp.

“What a fantastic young coach he is, what a lively presence he is, how big the influence of his optimism is and how lively he is on the training pitch. It is just a fact.

“I was like that when I was young and I am not like that any more, that’s how it is.

“You cannot use the (same) words always and again, so it gives me the opportunity to watch and to go in the right way.”

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There has been a quiet evolution behind the scenes at Liverpool this season, with goalkeeper coach Jack Robinson arriving in September from the Football Association to assist John Achterberg, while Thomas Gronnemark has been employed as a throw-in coach.

And Klopp has explained the difference made by those changes while praising the work done by all his backroom staff.

“We brought in Jack Robinson and John Achterberg is still there working with the goalies," said the Reds boss.

“Bringing in Alisson (Becker) when Simon (Mignolet) was already the number one, how they (the coaches) dealt with that and how they brought the guys together,” said the Reds boss.

“What Mona (Nemmer, nutritionist) is doing is wonderful. And we brought in Thomas (Gronnemark) and it changed our throw-in game completely!

“It's not obvious because when people talk about throw-ins they think it’s a long throw-in and you head it in. Now we have 18 (different) throw-ins in other areas and we want to have the ball after these throw-ins.

“It makes no sense if you have a throw and then after comes a 50-50 situation. So how that improves is massive.”

Klopp added: “So many details make it all. And I don’t normally speak about it because I will forget somebody and that wouldn’t show the respect that I want to show.

“They all know how important they are because we don’t hide our praise or giving of credit in our daily work.

“But to speak about it publicly is not always easy because there are so many.”