InterviewGiovanni van Bronckhorst: Liverpool is exactly where I want to be

The newly appointed Liverpool assistant coach is responding to a question about his first experience of Anfield as an opponent… and he still has a question mark or two about that particular afternoon.

December 23, 2001 was the date. Second versus third in the Premier League. Van Bronckhorst lining up for Arsenal. At that stage, both sides with aspirations of clinching the crown.

But the Dutchman’s outing was cut short after just 35 minutes. An earlier yellow card for a challenge on Sami Hyypia was shortly followed by a second caution, this time for going to ground under the attention of Stephane Henchoz inside the box.

“I remember I was sent off in the first half... I had one tackle or duel, which was rewarded with a yellow card,” the 50-year-old recalls while in conversation with Liverpoolfc.com. “The second... well, actually I slipped and the ref thought it was a dive.

“It was a bit controversial, but still you cannot appeal [the decision]. I do remember the game, we won it in the end.”

Arsenal did indeed triumph on that occasion – the 10 men prevailing 2-1 – and would go on to lift the Premier League trophy at the conclusion of the 2001-02 campaign, earning Van Bronckhorst a title winner’s medal.

It’s a feat he is now aiming to replicate in his new position with Liverpool.

Appointed to Arne Slot’s backroom staff in July, ‘Gio’ began his journey into coaching after hanging his boots up following a distinguished and highly successful playing career.

He took up a role as assistant at Feyenoord before assuming the reins in 2015 and leading the Rotterdam club to the Eredivisie title in 2017.

As fate would have it, the trophy did not return to De Kuip until 2022-23 under the tutelage of Slot.

For Van Bronckhorst, spells in charge of Guangzhou City FC, Glasgow Rangers and most recently Besiktas followed, before the Reds came calling.

“Sometimes you feel when you’re talking about a new challenge, you can sometimes almost feel right away if it’s something for you or not. If you have good vibes and a good feeling about it,” he explained.

“I must say, from the first moment Arne called me I was quite excited about the challenge. You have to get to know the players and the staff and that’s the same for everyone when you come to a new club, but from the beginning I already knew what kind of club I was joining. I played a couple of times against Liverpool as a player and also as a coach, so I knew how big the club was before.

“I’ve felt very, very welcomed by everyone and now I can’t wait to share my experiences with the players, with Arne and the coaching staff, to continue the success for this club.”

Van Bronckhorst’s appointment sees him step away from the head coach position at Liverpool, now joining Slot’s dedicated backroom staff.

Was giving up management something he had to consider?

“Of course, it’s one of the things you have to think about because I had coached for 10 years before I joined,” he replies.

“For me, the most important thing now is to enjoy my time at a place I can work in a great environment, I can work with quality players, so I didn’t have to think a long time about it.

“I knew the challenge I’d have here – together with everyone – is something I want to have. There was no issue because this is where I want to be and I only live in this moment. The chance to join this club at this time, I felt really excited about it and that’s why I wanted to be here. You have to be fully committed and that’s what I am.”

While he may have only encountered Liverpool as an opponent previously, Van Bronckhorst felt he’d gleaned enough information to inform his decision on what kind of club he was signing for.

“When Arne called me about joining his staff, it was part of my decision to come but also a big part of it was the club,” he said.

“As a player and coach, I’ve always been involved in clubs that are well-known throughout the world, were always competing for the top prizes. As a player with Arsenal, Barcelona and, of course, the national team, Rangers, and Feyenoord in Holland, so it’s the environment I had all my life as a player.

“I feel I have the same experience with the size of the club Liverpool is, with how it stands in society. It is very important for the city, it is a club that is well connected within the community and I think that’s also really, really nice.

“I have been here now for a few weeks, but I could sense how big the club is straight away – including when we were in Hong Kong and Tokyo. You could feel Liverpool is well loved there and how many fans we have across the world, even to watch our training sessions. Once the season starts with a big game against Crystal Palace and then the start of the Premier League, you can see everyone wants to give everything every day to be as well prepared as we can be for the start.”

Part of those provisions for 2025-26 has been integrating the new signings Liverpool have acquired over the summer so far.

Van Bronckhorst says: “It is part of our tasks as a staff. Players come in new to the team, they come from different competitions, so some players have to adjust to the Premier League.

“Some come from the Premier League, but one thing is for sure: all of the players have the quality to be a Liverpool player and it is up to us to guide them, to keep trying to develop them into better players every day. That’s our task as coaches and also the thing we love to do.”

Van Bronckhorst’s first official day on the job was around a month ago – July 8 to be exact – when Slot’s side began pre-season training after the summer break.

He has been impressed by not only the football operation at the club, but the vast and intricate support network that exists behind the scenes to best ready the team to contest matches at the highest level.

“It’s been something that I expected, but sometimes what you expect can be not what it is in reality. Here though, it is what I expected,” he continued.

“When a club is successful, the organisation has to be spot-on from high up with the owners and directors right through to everyone working day to day. That’s what I expected and what I have sensed in the last few weeks.

“The organisation, the structure, the tasks everyone has to make sure the players are well prepared for the games, I noticed from day one. That’s important to have success on the pitch.

“Everyone is doing that in the different roles we have and when you combine everything together, then you can win prizes.”

On the pitch, the mentality of the players he’s been working with almost daily for the last month is something that has captured Van Bronckhorst’s attentions.

“I’ve been impressed by the quality of the players, yes,” he stated. “To be competitive in all the competitions we face, you have the quality but I think the most important thing in being involved in successful set-ups is character.

“The character we have in this group and the desire of the players to become better, to be competitive every day, that is what you notice. No matter what kind of exercises we’re doing on the pitch, you see the competition is really high and everyone wants to win, which makes it very competitive for us as well to make sure everything is done right.

“If you make one mistake as a coach on the pitch and the player loses... you have to be really spot-on! Because of the environment we create and the players create with their character and attitude, they are also very competitive in the games and that’s what we want. We want to be competitive, we want to win every game and you can see that desire even in the little games we play to do the body wake-up in the morning, little games in warm-ups, in training... it’s everywhere.

“That’s the environment the club and, of course, Arne with the staff has created in the last years – and also Jürgen [Klopp] as well before. You can see it is the DNA of this club and we are just here to continue that and make sure it is maintained.”

A key part in ensuring such levels of desire and competitiveness are maintained as standard comes from the players themselves, with senior members of the squad leading by example, and skipper Virgil van Dijk one of the principal standard-bearers.

“He is the captain. I have followed almost the whole of his career, from being an assistant at Feyenoord trying to get him there when he was playing at Groningen and Ronald Koeman was our coach,” detailed Van Bronckhorst.

“I have seen him making his steps in football with Willem II, Groningen, Celtic, Southampton and Liverpool now. He has developed into one of the best defenders in the world and you can see he is the captain of this team with how he represents this club and how everyone in the club looks at him as the captain. Now I am working with him every day and you see what he means for this team. He is very important.”

After the club’s pre-season tour of Asia concluded last Thursday, Van Bronckhorst was back in the coaching staff office on Saturday morning, ready to assist in planning for Monday’s double-header with Athletic Club at Anfield.

A trip to Wembley to face Crystal Palace in the FA Community Shield follows on Sunday, while his next opportunity to experience a matchday in L4 will come later this month when AFC Bournemouth provide the opposition for the Premier League opener.

“It will be different because I was the opponent and now I am one of Liverpool,” he considers. “It will feel different.

“I was also here a second time with Rangers when we lost 2-0 at Anfield [in 2022]. And one time before, when I was a player at Rangers, I watched Liverpool v Barcelona. I think it was in 2001, Liverpool won 1-0.

“What I remember is You’ll Never Walk Alone – it is also the song we had at Feyenoord, so for me it brings back so many memories from my time there as a player and a coach, winning trophies.

“I hope in the end it will remind me of trophies I won with Feyenoord and Liverpool.”