Liverpool loanee gives Pep Lijnders big challenge as he walks into new managerial job

Much has rightly been made of the good health in which Jürgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool. But the same is only partially true at Red Bull Salzburg, where Pep Lijnders is being left with a big challenge in his first job after leaving Anfield.

In the final game of the season, Salzburg beat LASK Linz 7-1. LASK will be familiar to many Premier League fans, having qualified for Europe in recent years, and it finished this campaign in a respectable third place — the thrashing would suggest that Lijnders, much like Arne Slot, is inheriting a team set up to succeed.

However, this final-day result was not enough for Red Bull Salzburg to clinch the league title. After 10 successive years as champion, it lost out to Sturm Graz, meaning Lijnders will not be defending a trophy in his maiden campaign.

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The Austrian Bundesliga title went down to the final day of the season. Salzburg was cast in the role of Arsenal, requiring a victory and needing to hope that its rival failed to win.

But despite having drawn its previous three games, Sturm Graz delivered on the final day of the campaign, beating Austria Klagenfurt 2-0 to secure the title. And a Liverpool loanee — whom Lijnders will know well — played a pivotal role.

Vítězslav Jaroš has been on loan at Sturm Graz for the second half of the campaign. The 22-year-old has been the regular goalkeeper for the Austrian side, and has been vital in securing the unlikely league triumph.

Sturm Graz has boasted the best defensive record since the championship split into two halves (one half for the title, one to decide relegation, much like in Scotland). Jaroš has kept five clean sheets, including the decisive shut-out on the final day, securing a two-point triumph over Salzburg.

Lijnders' future team was also beaten by Sturm Graz at the semi-final stage of the ÖFB-Cup. Jaroš won't necessarily be bragging about that result, a 4-3 win, but he went on to end his loan as a double winner, with Salzburg left uncharacteristically empty-handed.

Jaroš has had a series of interesting loans, representing St Patrick's Athletic, Notts County and Stockport County before heading out to Austria. He has also made the Liverpool bench seven times, having often trained with the senior side, hence why he will be well-known to Lijnders.

Liverpool.com says: You could argue that this has lifted the pressure off Lijnders a little bit. The league title is usually the absolute minimum expectation at Red Bull Salzburg, but would now be seen as something of an achievement.

Still, he will not be able to rely on Salzburg's dominance to inflate his coaching reputation. As Sturm Graz and Jaroš have just proved, there are sides capable of mounting a challenge, and Lijnders will need to prove that his successful time as assistant at Liverpool can translate into the top job.

As for Jaroš, this isn't the first loan that has enhanced his reputation. He could be eyeing up a place in the Liverpool squad soon, with potential movement in the ranks below Alisson Becker.