Jurgen Klopp says he is delighted for Neil Critchley, after the Liverpool Under-23 boss left the Reds to take the head coach job at Blackpool.
The 41-year-old spent six years at Liverpool, and took charge of two first team matches this season in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup this season.
He had been in charge of the Reds’ U23 side since 2017, having stepped up after four years in charge of the Under-18 side.
But he has elected to leave Melwood for the head coach job with the Tangerines, taking charge following the exit of Simon Grayson.
Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe admitted Critchley’s exit was “bittersweet” for the Premier League leaders.
But Klopp insisted: "We don’t want to have someone here for 20 years doing the same job!"
“Congratulations to Blackpool and to Neil, it’s a great thing," said the German.
“It’s a nice challenge for him, a nice opportunity. He wanted to take it, he asked the club and we said, ‘Yes, of course.’
"It’s really nice because it shows it’s possible that you can make your way as a youth or Under-23 coach as well, that’s always what we wanted to have.
“We wanted to have the best people here in all different departments, that means in all the coaching roles as well.
"That means there are some requests – and will hopefully be more in the future – from other clubs. That’s exactly how it should be, we don’t want to have somebody here for like 20 years who is doing the same job.
"I’m really happy for him that he got that opportunity and that he takes it. It’s a big club and hopefully everything will go well."
Critchley said he was "absolutely delighted" to take the job after a "truly special" time with Liverpool.
"It would have had to have taken something equally as special, if not more, for me to even think about leaving," Critchley said of his time at Liverpool.
"But from the conversations I've had here, I got a really good feeling about the people, where they want the club to go and how they want it to grow."
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