Jurgen Klopp has proved himself to be one of the best managers in world football. The German did a fantastic job with Borussia Dortmund before joining Liverpool and has since changed the fortunes of the English club completely. His meteoric rise would undoubtedly catch the attention of other football clubs who could be tempted to make him an offer.
Former Liverpool and Real Madrid star Steve McManaman has stated to the Daily Star that he foresees the manager to return to Germany one day and be in charge of Bayern Munich. He has further said that Klopp would not fancy a move to Real Madrid or Barcelona. His exact words were “I think he really adores Liverpool and the Premier League. But you could see him going back to Germany and managing Bayern Munich. I’m not sure Klopp has any desire to manage Real Madrid or Barcelona and I don’t see why he’d go to La Liga though.”
Klopp’s rise to the top
The 52-year-old manager joined Mainz in 2001 and was in charge of the club until 2008. He led the club to promotion in Bundesliga, and it stayed that way for a few seasons until the club was relegated back in 2006-07. Despite having a tiny budget, he did an excellent job with the squad and overall recorded 109 wins with them.
This success warranted a call from Borussia Dortmund, and he took charge of the club in 2008. It was Klopp that instilled the belief in the side that the one club show of Bayern Munich in Bundesliga could be put to an end. Finally, he was able to guide his team to two successive league titles in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The very next year, Dortmund reached the final of the Champions League, though he was unable to lift the trophy. Soon after leaving the club, he joined Liverpool to be the successor of Brendan Rodgers and the rest as we all know, is history.
Would he suit Barcelona?
Barcelona have a very specific philosophy when choosing the managers of the side. Time and again they have shown that they prefer a person with links to the Catalan club to be in charge of the team and often that had worked for them, although at different levels. While Pep Guardiola booked a place in history for the side in his four years stint, his successors such as Vilanova and Valverde have attained moderate success with the team.
Even in the current scenario, the ideas that had been instilled by Guardiola continue to be a dominating force in the club. The present City manager advocated for a system in which passing was of paramount importance, and he had players like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi to implement his tactics. All these players were not known for their speed or pressing ability, but for their short passes, which led to the accomplishments of the side. The successive managers did deviate from the same tactical masterstroke a bit, but the driving force behind the team has remained the same.
Jurgen Klopp, on the other hand, plays a brand of football associated with “heavy metal”. The pressing of the team is insurmountable, and the players are made to run the entire length of the pitch for the total duration of the play. The basic requirement of a Klopp side is that the forwards must be adept at counter-attacking, a trait which has made Liverpool such a dangerous team to deal with in the recent past. These are probably the reasons that the German gaffer has preferred a comparatively younger side throughout his career, who have been able to implement his ideas to perfection.
Barcelona, at this moment, still look forward to Messi to find the creativity at the front. A player of Messi’s quality would undoubtedly be versatile enough to adjust to any requirements, but that could hamper his current level of performance. Therefore, as long as the Barca core is intact, we cannot fathom a person like Jugen Klopp to be in charge of the side.
