Why the Premier League needs Jurgen Klopp ?
Times are changing at Borussia Dortmund. Jurgen Klopp, who has been a revelation for Dortmund is finally leaving at the end of the season, which has created a ruckus around Europe as many clubs will be hell bent on landing him as a manager.
Jurgen himself is unsure where his future lies as of this moment but he has assured the media that he will be with a new club next season. But a talk of a much needed sabbatical is also not out of the question.
Klopp is one of Europe’s most sought after managers because of his philosophy of bringing in fresh talent from youth ranks and then nurturing them into becoming future superstars. He relies on a balanced form of play which includes a defensive stability along with fast attacking movement, which won him two back to back Bundesliga titles at a time when Bayern Munich were dominating the league.
Some of the youth products who came through the ranks from the Dortmund Academy namely, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus and Mario Gotze are now one of the most vital members of the German national team with Hummels getting the Captainship in recent times. These players were reared by Klopp into becoming one of the best players in world football in contemporary times.
Apart from winning two consecutive Bundesliga titles, one of the brightest moments in Klopp’s career was when he took a young and relatively inexperienced team (As per Champions League) to the finals of Champions League by thrashing a rampant Real Madrid 4 goals to one in the semi finals only to lose to their arch rivals Bayern Munich in the finals.
After this period of success, Dortmund saw their main players depart the club. Some of the major departures were the transfer of Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski to their direct rivals Bayern Munich. Gotze’s loss in the middle of the park was dearly felt as he was one of the best young midfielders of that time, and his loss made Munich significantly stronger while it had damaging effects for Dortmund.
Klopp made decent signings in the form of Henrikh Mkhitaryan, along with Ciro Immobile to fill the void and also got back their own Shinji Kagawa from Manchester United, but due to frequent and chronic injuries to their key players especially Gundogan and Marco Reus, consistency and stability was hard to find.
due to frequent and chronic injuries to their key players especially Gundogan and Marco Reus, consistency and stability were hard to find.
The new players — although fitted well into the system — couldn’t affect the proceedings as well as their predecessors. Their performances dipped and this season the side dropped from direct Bundesliga and Champions League contenders into relegation battlers which — for a club like Dortmund — is unacceptable.
“I chose this time to announce it because in the last years some player decisions were made late and you couldn’t react.
This club deserves a manager who is 100% right for the club, and that’s why I made the decision.
I definitely believe this to be completely the right decision.
I think that Borussia Dortmund needs a change.”
– Jurgen Klopp
Source:
They have been able to improve their position to a large extent post 2015, but Klopp is unable to replicate the old Dortmund which resulted in his decision of leaving the club.
From what I have seen, I feel Klopp should come to Premier League and if he does, that would result in a total change of dynamics to the English league. With the Special One, Mourinho, back in the Premier League, the atmosphere of the league has already changed.
With interesting and controversial press conferences, to the clashing of huge egos along with claims of Campaigns, the Premier League doesn’t only offer quality it seems. Enter Klopp and one can only imagine the aura he would bring in with him.
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He is not one of those managers who like to sugarcoat situations but like to face them as they are. He is pragmatic and never afraid to make changes when it is needed and I feel some top Premier League clubs are in dire need of pragmatism at this moment.
If Klopp comes to Premier League, two clubs will perfectly fit his lofty ambitions.
Firstly, Manchester City who are in dire circumstances at the moment. Pellegrini won the Premier League in his first season in charge, but it is one thing to win and another thing to defend it. He has a very well balanced squad with incredible depth in each position and especially in attack, due to his tactical stubbornness and stagnation; he has cost his team direly this season.
He puts his team week in and week out in the same manner and expects his main players namely, Sergio Aguero, Silva or Yaya Toure to pull them through in all circumstances. His tactical naivety can be seen when his team were wobbling when Yaya Toure was away on national duty for African Cup of Nations. It was as if the whole team lost its backbone and they were crumbling.
Pellegrini’s position at City is not at all safe after 3 defeats in the last 6 games which included a humiliation at the hands of Manchester United. If Pellegrini leaves, Klopp will be a good fit for the Citizens, as the team needs rebuilding and more importantly motivation to perform which is lacking at this present moment.
Another club where I think Klopp’s capabilities can be put to good use is Arsenal. Although Wenger’s men are in a great form at the moment, but only one FA cup trophy in the last 8 years is not a good track record for a club like Arsenal. It seems like Wenger has been treating the top 4 like a trophy all these years and they need a change from such ambitions if they are to win anything in the future.
Arsenal’s system of playing free flowing football along with promoting young players is Klopp’s forte. He will thrive in such a condition where he has a chance to bring the good old days back to the Emirates and also where his own football philosophy matches with that of the club. Wenger is a brilliant manager no doubt, but is not pragmatic enough which has always been his downfall.
It is as if, the world has moved on towards a new brand of football but Wenger is still stuck back in his own archaic methods which are detrimental for the development of a club. Who doesn’t love free flowing passing football ? But to survive in this cut throat competition one has to change according to the situations. The best example is Chelsea’s one nil win against Manchester United this weekend.
Klopp is one of the best in terms of impacting games with his decisions much like Jose, which can work wonders for the Gunners. Wenger’s team are already in the finals of the FA Cup, and I feel that he should go out on a high and let Arsenal move on. Klopp is the appropriate manager to take Arsenal into the future.
Where Jurgen Klopp heads this summer is anybody’s guess, but if he heads to the Premier League, we are in for an interesting 2015/16 season come August.