Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has opened up on the departure of his former assistant manager Zeljko Buvac for the first time.
The pair had worked together since 2001 while at Mainz, Borussia Dortmund and eventually Liverpool. Klopp had previously described Buvac as 'the brain' and was seen as a key figure in the Reds' coaching set up.
The now-60-year-old left the club on the eve of the huge Champions League semi-final second-leg at Roma nearly four years ago - although his departure was only officially confirmed later on in 2018. 'Personal reasons' were cited for his sudden exit but otherwise little has been said since on the subject.
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But in a new interview, Klopp has touched on his relationship with Buvac, admitting it 'wasn't working out anymore', before heaping praise on Pep Lijnders, who returned to Liverpool to become the German's new right-hand man, and his other coaching staff.
"You have to find a way to get all the knowledge you can over the years," Klopp said to Peter Hooton, who hosts our Allez Les Rouges podcast, in an interview with BT Sport's Boot Room Boys.
"I worked together for a long time with Zeljko Buvac, who was a more experienced coach than I was when we started because he was older and worked already a little bit.
"We worked very close for a long time together and then it didn't work out anymore and we brought in Lijnders and Vitor (Matos) now. They are like energisers, they are the next generation.
"They have a different view, they are like training machines. I say 'I want to play like this' or 'I want to play like this' and they shoot like 25 sessions out of the hip like, 'which one do you want?'
"They keep you really young and on your toes. That's really good. So in my case, I would be nowhere near [where I am] without the people over the years around me. But I think the people around me know that they are only here because I am around as well and together we are pretty okay."
Lijnders has played a significant part in Liverpool's success. The Dutchman briefly worked as a manager for NEC Nijmegen in the Eerste Divisie before returning to Merseyside only five months later.
