Pep Guardiola reveals Liverpool star is behind Man City's return to form | OneFootball

Liverpool have been quite a middling team this season, now back on track to get top four in the Premier League after suffering nine losses in a 12 game spell, but things aren't quite back to normal yet.

You feel as though it's going to be a battle for the remainder of the season - a transition if you will.

Over at Manchester City, however, you feel as though they're finally starting to find their stride, now just two points behind Mikel Arteta's Arsenal, a side that should be miles clear in the race for the title.

In spite of how different Liverpool's situation is to that of the Citizens, head coach Pep Guardiola praised a former Red on Saturday, claiming that he's the primary reason behind City's return to form.

Lijnders' betrayal now has consequence

Once it was announced that Pep Lijnders, former assistant manager to Jurgen Klopp, was going to join Guardiola's coaching team at City, a lot of Liverpool fans were sent into bedlam. Even though the Dutchman had been at RB Salzburg before he made the call, it felt like he'd betrayed his former club.

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After all, during his six-year spell the the Reds, he was part of a lot of the team's success and he wrote a book on the tactical approach called 'Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC'. Furthermore, once it was agreed that Klopp and his backroom staff would leave in 2024, he made a promise to the fans.

In an exit interview with the club, he said: "I always said I will finish with Jurgen; the moment I will not assist anyone else, that's the moment I will go and I will manage. That was always the case."

After just six months of working in a more senior position, he went back on his commitment to not be an assistant manager for anyone other than Klopp, and he's now part of City's back room team.

What's most infuriating is that Guardiola is putting his and the team's current form down to Lijnders.

Speaking after their 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday, he said: "He's good. Pep is so, so good. He's a top manager. There are some you say they're an assistant, no no; maybe I'm his assistant."

Of course, this kind of praise for the Dutchman is similar to the reputation he gained when he was by Klopp's side, working out different tactical approaches to get the best out of the players, while also spending a lot of time with the players and motivating them - creating a feel-good environment.

In addition, pundits Joe Cole and Joleon Lescott spoke on TNT Sports about the an impact he's having at City, adding that it's 'Guardiola allowing Lijnders to deliver messages in a different tone, which is galvanising the players'.

Of course, there's little that Liverpool can do about it, since Arne Slot has his own coaching staff and Lijnders is free to do as he pleases, regardless of what statements he might have made in interviews in the past, but particularly unfortunate that Guardiola is excelling with a former Red by his side.