Liverpool Success Rooted in Chasing “a Culture of Perfection”

Liverpool aren’t chasing record winning streaks and unbeaten streaks or even titles. Not directly at least. What they’re chasing is perfection at every level, and from that chase for perfection the belief is the results will come.

That’s the view from assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders, who told the club’s official magazine this month that the club’s current success is all rooted in the creation of a culture focused on striving for day to day perfection.

“We searched to create a culture of preparation inside our club, a culture of perfection,” he noted. “We can feel this now in all the people through all the departments of the club. But we looked at it game by game, not searching for the records.

“In my opinion, a long number of wins is only possible with a lot of dedication and effort by all the staff, from the ground staff, kit management team, the analysts. Everyone.”

It’s a lofty standard, and one that even a group of managers and players and support staff as talented as the current one at Liverpool can’t always quite reach, but in that reaching they have already achieved a great deal.

Defending European champions, eight points clear at the top of the league, and having more than proven their nerve and ability to take points—usually maximum points—from any and every situation and against any opponent.

“We had games where we dominated and owned the pitch from the start until the end and we also had games where we had to find solutions and overcome adversity,” Lijnders added. “But what was always there was the attitude of the boys.

“Never giving up and never giving up. Never complaining or making excuses. I love how we tell our team every day that we are capable of becoming really great as long as we focus and we don’t drop concentration.”