Report: Former Liverpool Coach Hails Klopp’s Influence | OneFootball

How Vitor Matos Found His Purpose After Liverpool And Klopp’s Guidance

Roots Of A Modern Coach

There are moments that define a coach long before trophies or headlines ever do. For Vitor Matos, one of those moments came in July, on a training pitch in Madeira, when he learned that his close friend Diogo Jota had died in a car crash. It was his first day as Maritimo manager. “I found out five minutes before going onto the pitch on my first day with the team,” Matos told The Athletic. “I still don’t remember how it was a session, but that wasn’t the most important thing at the time. It was all about Diogo, an unbelievable personality and friend.”

Four months later, the pain remains. Yet, for Matos, football has always been both sanctuary and expression, a way to build, connect and rebuild again. His story is not simply about a coach climbing the ranks, but about a philosophy shaped by years inside Liverpool’s ecosystem, a system that demanded intellect, empathy and relentless commitment to detail.

Photo IMAGO

Now 37, Matos is guiding Maritimo through a quiet revival. Relegated in 2023 after nearly four decades in Portugal’s top flight, the club sit third in the second tier after ten games, playing with a vigour that mirrors the pressing football he helped nurture on Merseyside. His arrival has transformed both the dressing room and the stands of the Estadio de Maritimo, where roughly 5,500 loyal fans gather each week.

“I want to create a feeling where every supporter is excited about the next game,” Matos said. “I want them to be already thinking about the next game when they leave our stadium and be waiting for that moment.”

Building Identity And Belief

Matos’ football is bold. Maritimo have the fewest passes allowed per defensive action in the league, averaging just 6.49, proof of their commitment to suffocating opponents through intensity and organisation. They have also conceded the fewest shots and maintain one of the highest average possessions, 55.6 per cent, in the division.

That approach is not accidental. It reflects his Liverpool education, where tactical intelligence was matched by human connection. Between 2019 and 2024, Matos was integral in linking the first team and academy, ensuring a seamless philosophy across age groups. He worked daily alongside Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders, describing his time there as a “masterclass.”

Photo Imago

“Being at Liverpool was more than a dream because I never thought that it would be even possible to happen,” Matos said. “I felt a special feeling from the first minute. The city breathes the club and the club breathes the city.”

Liverpool, for Matos, was both classroom and community. He watched up close as Klopp built trust, energy and belief, often through the smallest gestures. “Jurgen had a special way of creating a positive feeling. He could always find a way to rebuild and come back stronger,” Matos said. “I’ve started thinking about him more lately and it makes me realise that I’m so far away from being someone like that. He’s special.”

Lessons From Anfield

His years on Merseyside left deep marks. Matos celebrated the Premier League title in 2020, lifting silverware inside an empty Formby Hall due to pandemic restrictions. He also lived through the near misses of 2022, when Liverpool came within a whisker of a quadruple. Yet the memory that stands out is the 2020-21 season, ravaged by injuries and fatigue, when Liverpool clawed back from despair to finish third.

“Sometimes the most important moments are created when you’re struggling,” Matos recalled. “We needed Alisson to score with that late header in a 2-1 win away at West Brom, and when that season finished, we celebrated a lot because finishing third felt like winning the Premier League.”

Photo: IMAGO

For him, that was Klopp’s true genius: finding joy in adversity. It is a lesson that has travelled with him to Madeira, where resources are modest and expectations high. “One of the biggest parts of the job is managing 25 different characters and personalities but I’m ready for that,” he said. “I don’t see it as a pressure to deliver. It’s an opportunity to build something special and for as long as I’m in this job, I will try to be enjoying it at the same time.”

A Journey Still Unfolding

Matos’ coaching lineage is rich. He began at Porto, rose through their youth system, and later worked at Red Bull Salzburg and Genoa. His network is broad and his methods modern, rooted in data but fuelled by emotion. Players speak of his ability to make them feel part of something bigger.

“We always had characters who made the team so strong,” he said, recalling his Liverpool days. “Alisson was calm when everything was on fire. Virgil, Adam Lallana, Jordan Henderson, James Milner were so important. Then you have someone like Mo Salah, who is outstanding and so strong. His story is unique, to come from Egypt and be the king of the Premier League.”

Photo @LFC on X

Now, his own story is unfolding differently. Living in Madeira with his family, Matos speaks fondly of his time in Formby, of friendships that outlived the job. He remains close to Lijnders, though their partnership at Salzburg was short-lived. “Sometimes things are not meant to work and when that’s the case, you don’t need to force it,” he said.

As Maritimo chase promotion, he laughs at the idea of one day facing Jose Mourinho’s Benfica. “That would be nice,” he said. “But we are not looking too far ahead.” For now, the project is about creating identity, rebuilding trust and nurturing belief, all principles learned in the corridors of Kirkby and the roar of Anfield.

Football, for Matos, remains about human connection as much as tactical precision. “I want to make every player feel part of something bigger,” he said. “That’s what Liverpool taught me.”

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

For Liverpool fans, Matos’ story feels deeply personal. He was part of the club’s quiet backbone, the bridge between youth promise and first-team excellence. Those who followed the Klopp era closely will recognise his fingerprints on the club’s structure, particularly in how young players like Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Conor Bradley were integrated.

What stands out now is how much Liverpool’s ethos lives on through coaches like him. The idea that football is about emotional energy as much as tactical detail has become part of Liverpool’s DNA. Matos’ admiration for Klopp speaks to the culture that made the German’s reign so powerful, a mix of authenticity, resilience and joy.

Supporters will take pride in seeing a figure shaped by Anfield thrive elsewhere. His success in Madeira is a reminder of how far the club’s influence reaches. For many fans, Matos represents what Liverpool at its best has always stood for: purpose, passion and unity through hardship.

If his Maritimo side keep progressing, it won’t be long before bigger clubs take notice. But for now, Liverpool fans will quietly hope that one day, the man who learned under Klopp returns to Anfield, not as a student, but as a master of his own craft.