With Jurgen Klopp linked with Arsenal and
Liverpool, Matt Stanger and Adam Bate present the cases for and against
the Borussia Dortmund boss.
The Case for Klopp
So here we are again. It's late November, Arsenal are in
crisis and that sound you can hear is Hewlett-Packard furiously printing
'Wenger Out' on A4 sheet after A4 sheet.
This is what football
reduces us to: middle-aged men spending their short winter evenings
carefully conveying their frustration in glorious Comic Sans. No, you
can't finish your school project, Thierry. Daddy's got some very
important work to do.
It does seem that Arsenal are crawling towards a crossroads at
which point Arsene Wenger may very politely be begged to move upstairs,
or leave, or just stop making the same exasperating mistakes year after
year. Eventually the time will come when Ivan Gazidis must pluck up the
courage to grab a quick word. Surely it has to.
Arsenal have been a living fossil for the past decade, perfectly
captured by the last week which brought a soul-crushingly predictable
defeat to United and news of Abou Diaby's inclusion in the Champions
League squad ahead of Olivier Giroud.
Forget the prognosis of the
striker's ankle injury, presuming that Diaby is going to be fitter than
any other human at any given time is the sort of show of faith that
landed the club in this mess. It's admirable that Wenger affords that
level of trust, but it's also death by a thousand cuts.
Despite Alisher Usmanov's tasty comments on Monday, Arsenal are
likely to stick with the man they handed a new three-year contract back
in the summer when he was sowing seeds of sadness by failing to address
the defensive shortage and lack of steel in midfield.
But there
is a tempting alternative to persisting with Wenger which appears to be
considered with all the solemnity of the nuclear option at the Emirates.
One of the greatest things about the game is its tendency to
throw up 'sliding doors' moments. On Wednesday, Arsenal and Klopp will
meet at the Emirates.
Perhaps they'll brush hands, perhaps Klopp
will get all giggly and say something Arsenal finds adorable. Who knows?
But there has been no better opportunity for the two to get
romantically entwined.
On the previous occasions Klopp has managed against Arsenal, his commitment to Dortmund has been unyielding.
But
then Bayern scorched the earth, Dortmund stopped winning, relegation
became an unexpected yet suddenly very real possibility and Klopp said
this: "I think it (England) is the only country where I should work,
because it's the only country I know the language a little bit, and I
need the language for my work. If somebody will call me, then we will
talk about it."
That's right, he actually said it. For once it isn't conjecture
or something conjured up by superbrilliantfootierumours.net (who also do
a great trade in Vines and amusing tweets you've already read on
Twitter); Jürgen Klopp genuinely said those words, issuing a pretty
unequivocal come-and-get-me plea to the Premier League.
Of course, Arsenal may have concerns over Dortmund's current
Bundesliga form, but it would be deliberately obtuse to ignore Klopp's
success over the past six seasons.
Despite Bayern dwarfing
Dortmund's spending power, Klopp has led the club to two Bundesliga
crowns, the DFB-Pokal, two DFL Supercups and the Champions League final.
And all this was achieved with a brand of enthralling flowing football
that used to be Arsenal's hallmark.
With Liverpool also thought to be monitoring his situation, this
may be Arsenal's only chance to capture theoretically the ideal
replacement for Wenger.
This isn't United following Sir Alex
Ferguson with David Moyes; Klopp possesses the power of personality to
walk into the Emirates as Wenger did Highbury in 1996, embrace the
club's culture, and yet be strong enough to impose his own ideas. Ideas
that have been successful elsewhere at the highest level.
In truth, this should no longer be the big decision that has been
billed. Gazidis ought to be tempted to throw a net over Klopp on
Wednesday night and get him to dot the Us there and then.
If
Arsenal lose again, it will be difficult to stem the tide of anti-Wenger
sentiment. Change is needed and, after making himself available, Klopp
is the man to bring it.
The Case against Klopp
With Liverpool making their worst start in 22 years and
Arsenal fans having to go back another decade to find a more miserable
opening to their campaign, Jurgen Klopp's arrival on English soil is
beautifully timed for everyone but Brendan and Arsene.
A flash of
a grin and that roaring laugh will likely see a swooning English media
fall for the charismatic German all over again.
His Borussia Dortmund side visit the Emirates as the top dogs in
Group D and one of only three teams - alongside Real Madrid and Bayern
Munich - with a 100 per cent record in qualifying. Fresh in the mind too
is the 2-0 win that Dortmund conjured up in their previous meeting when
they played with the sort of verve and panache that's become a mere
memory in north London.
But there's a small problem with the notion of Klopp as panacea
for the problems facing Arsenal and Liverpool. Notably that Dortmund's
crisis is every bit as troubling as the ones threatening to engulf those
colleagues in England that some would have him replace. Twelve games
into the Bundesliga campaign and Dortmund are in the bottom three with
just 11 points.
Ten games into the season and the German media was abuzz with the
shocking statistic that this was the club's worst start in 48 years -
alarming given that BVB have actually been relegated in that period.
More
pertinently, they have already lost as many games - seven - as in any
of the four previous seasons under Klopp. "It's anything but good, what
has happened," said the man himself.
Dortmund started badly with a home defeat to Bayer Leverkusen and
it's got worse from there. Klopp insists he's in control of the
situation, but after calling a home defeat to Hamburg at the start of
October "rock bottom" and going so far as to suggest he'd already
identified the solution, Dortmund promptly went and lost the next three
league games.
A manager can only get away with that talk - attempting to draw a
line in the sand - once or twice before the blip becomes a malaise and
people begin to doubt he has the answers.
Dortmund have long been
better when hitting teams on the counter-attack, but chances to do so
are now limited in the Bundesliga as their rivals know what to expect.
Klopp's focus is on imposing his team's will on the other side
through a pressing game that relies on players able to work harder than
their opponents.
But there are those now questioning whether
Klopp has a Plan B - an ironic criticism given the long-held belief that
Wenger pays too little attention to the tactics of the men in the other
dressing room.
Rodgers too has been accused of being found out, creating a
picture of the Premier League that suggests the would-be-philosophers
are languishing while that arch-pragmatist Jose Mourinho is left
chuckling from his lofty position at the top of the table at the golden
prison his rivals have constructed for themselves.
Klopp was long seen as the alchemist able to bend those prison
bars to his will, not only replacing star players such as Nuri Sahin and
Shinji Kagawa but even able to bring them back to the Westfalenstadion
with nothing to show for their travels but a fistful of dollars and a
host of recriminations.
But just as Rodgers has found the departure of Luis Suarez a
bitter blow, the exit of Robert Lewandowksi might be one too many for
Klopp to deal with. Ilkay Gundogan is reportedly doing interviews
revealing his plans to leave, while only an unfortunate injury is likely
to keep Marco Reus in the Ruhr beyond 2015.
This is not an attempt to besmirch the reputation of a coach who
has achieved marvellous things - those accomplishments will not be
erased whatever happens next at Dortmund.
But it is a reminder to
fans of Arsenal and Liverpool that any hope there is a coach out there
ready to transform their fortunes with a smile and a quip might not be
as straightforward as a Champions League group stage table can make it
look.
Jose Mourinho has revealed that he will allow his Chelsea players to enjoy the festive period more than usual this season, having lifted the club ban on Christmas parties.
The former France international believes that while Cristiano Ronaldo
and Lionel Messi are worthy candidates, the accolade should go to one of
Joachim Low's men
The Blues remain unbeaten in all competitions and sealed their progress
to the Champions League knockout rounds with a stunning 5-0 win over
Schalke in midweek
