Jurgen Klopp is a one-off who cannot be cloned, according to former Germany international Jurgen Kohler.
Klopp has been a serial winner throughout his managerial career, as he brought an end to lengthy league title droughts at Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool.
His high-octane style of football and bubbly personality have won him many admirers, and former Borussia Dortmund defender Kohler feels Klopp is unique.
What was said?
"You can't clone Klopp,” Kohler told Goal. “Klopp is Klopp. Aki Watzke (Dortmund CEO) also had a special personal bond with Klopp. I can't imagine him forming such a bond with another coach again.
"Jurgen is, in a certain way, a people catcher. In a position like that, it's also about leading people, and Jurgen was predestined for that.”
At both Liverpool and Dortmund, it took a couple of seasons for Klopp’s methods to pay off and Kohler feels his fellow German benefited from Dortmund's precarious financial position at the time as it allowed him time to get things right.
“He needed two or three years for that (to get the players to believe in his style),” Kohler said. “The difficult situation with the threat of insolvency probably also led to Klopp being given more time and people being more patient.
"With the current budget, you can no longer say: 'People have to be patient'."
Klopp’s managerial record
After a long career as a solid rather than spectacular utility player at Mainz, he took charge of the club and honed his managerial skills - and led them to promotion to the Bundesliga in the 2003-04 season.
After surviving for a couple of seasons and qualifying for the UEFA Cup on a shoestring budget, Mainz were relegated and a couple of seasons later Klopp was lured to Dortmund.
A similar pattern followed, with a slow burn on the back of financial constraints but he brought the Bundesliga title to the club - their first since 2001-02 - in the 2010-11 campaign. They defended the title the following year and reached the Champions League final in 2012-13 - before being overtaken by Bayern Munich.
Klopp pitched up at Anfield in 2015 and rebuilt the playing squad, which culminated in Champions League glory in 2018-19, and Premier League success - their first top-flight title since 1990 - in 2019-20.
How have Dortmund fared without Klopp?
Dortmund have played second fiddle to Bayern since Klopp’s departure, with the Bavarians on a run of eight successive Bundesliga titles.
Thomas Tuchel, who is now in charge of Chelsea, succeeded Klopp and arrived with a tall reputation, but all he could deliver was a DFB Pokal.
Petr Bosz, Peter Stoger and Lucien Favre all flattered to deceive, despite having a talented young squad at their disposal, and it’s currently Edin Terzic in charge until Marco Rose leaves Borussia Monchengladbach to take over in the summer.
Further reading
- Desperate Dortmund in danger of missing out on UCL
- Alaba leaving Bayern for the money - Kohler
- Klopp: Players will not ask to leave if Liverpool miss UCL