Pep Lijnders shares importance of Liverpool plan 18…

Pep Lijnders shares importance of Liverpool plan 18 months in making after not 'good enough' admission

Pep Lijnders believes Liverpool's mid-season trip to Dubai will be invaluable for turning around the season after Christmas.

And the Reds' assistant manager said the club's plan for the break during the World Cup began as far back as 18 months ago in an effort to make sure the squad fully benefited from the time away from the domestic action.

Liverpool initially looked at a camp in South Africa but opted on using the training facilities in Dubai given the international contingent at the World Cup will be based in nearby Qatar.

With those not at the World Cup now set for a couple of weeks off, Lijnders reckons the players will return to training fully recharged ahead of a Dubai camp that will also include friendlies with AC Milan and Lyon in mid-December.

"It’s an exciting time for a lot of our players," Lijnders told Liverpoolfc.com. "Competing on the highest level has a lot to do with honour and, to be honest, competing in a World Cup must be something so special. So, first of all I wish them all the best. Hopefully they reach their highest levels and come back with a good feeling.

"Try to enjoy it, try to experience fully, because these tournaments are once in a lifetime – and I don’t want to put any pressure on him but Virgil has to come back with something!

"I will follow the tournament as someone who loves the game, who loves the opportunity that football cultures can show the world what they are all about. The last years have been incredibly hard for our boys, the levels they reached, game in and game out, every three days, it made us successful.

"With long spells of high performance, players can become mentally tired. A lot of people mistake physical tiredness for being mentally tired, but we all know that the mind and the body are one. So, yes, it gives us a chance to give the boys few weeks without needing to prepare for a game, to not hear our voices shouting at them that they have to give more.

"Now they can go to bed knowing that the day after there isn’t an intense training session planned for them, but just a dinner with the missus and some family or friends. Hopefully it will take them out of their high-performance routines and gives the mind a nice break.

"We will report in Dubai with a fresh and hungry mind to prepare for the second half of the season. We still have our same target: create special games and memories together.

"There is still a lot to play for. We know we weren’t good enough [so far this season] but one thing will not happen, we will not stop nor give up. In all layers of society, it’s in these times people get separated: the ones who make one step forward and the ones who make one step back.

"The AXA Training Centre is full of people who make a step forward, the ones who take responsibility and not the ones who shield behind the others.

Lijnders added: "[The Dubai trip is] about togetherness, off-the-pitch professionalism, creation of team spirit, a staff who work very efficiently towards one target and above everything, real time to train. Real time for dedicated and specific team training. It’s time to create a base for the second half of the season to recover our pride.

"Sometimes you need to lose something to realise what it took to have it. Hard work and dedication brought the cups to us, without it we are nothing special. I have to give Ray [Haughan] and Louise [Dobson] a big compliment for how they always make sure we can prepare in the best conditions possible.

"These two breathe high performance on the elite level and honestly this isn’t easy: no excuses and always searching for the next step. For example, they started the process of the Dubai training camp 18 months ago to ensure we got the best elite facility possible, before any other team."

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