Football is back. Well, domestic football at any rate for Liverpool. Impossible to ignore, though, has been the World Cup finals that brought the Premier League campaign to a shuddering halt and saw attention diverted to Qatar for the past month.
Pep Lijnders was no different to the supporters who tuned in to watch a tournament ultimately won in thrilling fashion by a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina.
And taking a few moments away from previewing Thursday's Carabao Cup clash at Manchester City, the Liverpool assistant manager explained what he learned from the World Cup - including the impact of midfielder Enzo Fernandez, who has been strongly linked with the Reds in recent weeks.
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On the tournament...
"I enjoyed it a lot. First of all, I think the World Cup proved the teams who are more collective, or are more 'team', were the teams who were decisive in the last stages. It proved again you don't need to be top (best) in the group stage to become the winner in the end. It's always about the team who grows more. A growing team is a dangerous team, and Argentina is a prime example of this."
On the tactics...
"Tactically you have to see the context. The context of a knockout tournament over a short period of time is something that is completely different to the Premier League over a long period of time. People misunderstand that. They might say 'what about this system?' or the defensive style, or the counter-attack, or whatever. A knockout stage is completely different and this is what I like about Argentina - they played to their strengths.
"Take for example Rodrigo de Paul. He was like a sweeper behind Messi. Messi is on the inside, he goes to the outside. Messi is on the outside, he goes to the inside. They play to their strengths. Enzo and (Alexis) Mac Allister, how they managed midfield together with Rodrigo, but especially these two, how they balance each other.
"Messi we don't have to talk about. I've said before, if you see him from five metres away, it's something I've never witnessed before, the speed. And he was decisive in each attack they had, he was the start of many attacks - with Enzo, of course. Again, they grew in the tournament, they didn't have a particularly good group stage."
On the final...
"What I liked about Argentina is they were 2-0 up and were brought back to 2-2 and they stayed calm... on the bench and on the pitch you felt nothing had changed. They went to the penalty shoot-out with complete control emotionally. Maybe not afterwards but that's completely natural!"
On other teams that caught the eye...
"Saudi's last line against Argentina was a standout. The bravery, the way they defended the space behind them against a top side showed a lot.
"The midfield of Croatia with (Marcelo) Brozovic, (Luka) Modric and (Mateo) Kovacic. If you dominate midfield, you dominate the game, and how they are connected and always available. How they find the free spaces and know when to slow down or speed up attacks. As a three being one, that midfield...
"Then there is the efficiency of Holland. One chance, one goal, that killer instinct. They are just a few things. But the team that grew the most deserves to win, and the team that improved the most in the tournament was Argentina."
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