Jurgen Klopp waits in Liverpool wings as Brendan Rodgers fights for his job
Liverpool have been alerted to the German's availability with the next three games deciding Brendan Rodgers's future
By Chris Bascombe
2:51PM BST 24 Sep 2015
Jürgen Klopp, the former Borussia Dortmund coach, has increased the pressure on Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers by making it known he would prematurely end his year-long sabbatical for the right Premier League club.
A day after former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti’s name was heavily linked with a move to Merseyside, those close to Klopp further alerted Anfield officials to the possibility of recruiting a high-calibre replacement should they end Rodgers’s tenure.
Liverpool are adamant no discussions have been held with any managers as Rodgers prepares to face Aston Villa tomorrow – and despite Klopp’s ambitions to manage in England, he has made no specific reference to Liverpool and confirms there has been no contact – but the timing is significant.
There is no doubt Rodgers is clinging to his job.
Klopp has spoken previously about the attraction of working in the Premier League, where he has been linked with Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Last July he said: “It is important to make the next step. And I think England is the only country where I should work next to Germany because it’s the only country where I know the language.”
Liverpool are one of the few English clubs with the clout to attract a manager of Klopp’s pedigree.
Wednesday’s penalty shoot-out victory over League Two side Carlisle United in the Capital One Cup served only to raise further doubts about Rodgers’ future.
The standard of results and performances this season has left the manager’s most ardent boardroom supporters uncertain how much longer he can survive. Those disgruntled within Fenway Sports Group want change, which leaves all eyes on principal owner and majority shareholder John W Henry.
Should a change follow, Klopp has long been considered the most likely fit for FSG. Indeed, when they were assessing managers ahead of appointing Rodgers in 2012, it was Klopp’s work in Germany – overcoming the financial muscle of Bayern Munich to win two Bundesliga titles – that became a blueprint for how FSG wanted to operate.
Klopp’s availability, allied to that of out-of-work Ancelotti, offers a ready-made alternative for Henry should he decide Rodgers is unable to reverse a decline that began with the sale of Luis Suárez in the summer of 2014. However, there is no guarantee that Klopp would be as attractive to FSG now as he was during his most successful spell in Dortmund and, if Rodgers went, Liverpool would explore numerous options.
Klopp won the Bundesliga in 2011 and 2012, a year in which he completed the ‘double’ in German football. He lost the 2013 Champions League final to Bayern at Wembley, and opted for a break from football at the end of last season after a difficult final year.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, is a multiple title and Champions League winner across Europe. If Liverpool seek a safe pair of hands having earlier favoured an up-and-coming coach, there is no doubt the Italian will have his boardroom supporters. Liverpool are seeking immediate results with the existing squad rather than another long-term project involving another era of rebuilding. The fact that two highly respected managers are available and seemingly open to the prospect of moving to Anfield is leaving Rodgers even more vulnerable.
In 2012, Liverpool were also interested in Ajax’s Frank De Boer, who won four consecutive league titles in Holland. Should the club change their coaching structure, former club captain Steven Gerrard’s name is sure to be a topic of conversation as Liverpool seek to establish how soon he is reintegrated back into the club.
After facing Villa tomorrow, Liverpool play Sion in the Europa League and then travel to Everton for the Merseyside derby on Oct 4. That fixture already has a defining look about it, coming before a two-week international break. Many will be circling the first week of October as a pivotal period.
The unequivocal boardroom backing that was offered after the most sobering defeats last season – specifically the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Villa and 6-1 loss to Stoke City – has evaporated.
FSG always said they would make sound judgments based on results and performances, but more studiously with an eye on the longer-term. As a Liverpool team valued at £130 million toiled to get beyond the centre-halves of Carlisle, the here and now was so wretched few dared to think how much worse it could get.
Henry is not in the business of making knee-jerk decisions, but any judgment made in the coming weeks cannot be assumed to be such.
Rodgers remained in post midway through last season – and he also survived the miserable end to the last campaign – because the club did not want to act based on a poor run or one disappointing campaign given how well the manager and team performed a year earlier.
Should Rodgers pay the price in the next few weeks, it will not be a direct consequence of what has happened at the start of this season but a culmination of the last 14 months.
Liverpool have been alerted to the German's availability with the next three games deciding Brendan Rodgers's future
By Chris Bascombe
2:51PM BST 24 Sep 2015
Jürgen Klopp, the former Borussia Dortmund coach, has increased the pressure on Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers by making it known he would prematurely end his year-long sabbatical for the right Premier League club.
A day after former AC Milan, Real Madrid and Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti’s name was heavily linked with a move to Merseyside, those close to Klopp further alerted Anfield officials to the possibility of recruiting a high-calibre replacement should they end Rodgers’s tenure.
Liverpool are adamant no discussions have been held with any managers as Rodgers prepares to face Aston Villa tomorrow – and despite Klopp’s ambitions to manage in England, he has made no specific reference to Liverpool and confirms there has been no contact – but the timing is significant.
There is no doubt Rodgers is clinging to his job.
Klopp has spoken previously about the attraction of working in the Premier League, where he has been linked with Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. Last July he said: “It is important to make the next step. And I think England is the only country where I should work next to Germany because it’s the only country where I know the language.”
Liverpool are one of the few English clubs with the clout to attract a manager of Klopp’s pedigree.
Wednesday’s penalty shoot-out victory over League Two side Carlisle United in the Capital One Cup served only to raise further doubts about Rodgers’ future.
The standard of results and performances this season has left the manager’s most ardent boardroom supporters uncertain how much longer he can survive. Those disgruntled within Fenway Sports Group want change, which leaves all eyes on principal owner and majority shareholder John W Henry.
Should a change follow, Klopp has long been considered the most likely fit for FSG. Indeed, when they were assessing managers ahead of appointing Rodgers in 2012, it was Klopp’s work in Germany – overcoming the financial muscle of Bayern Munich to win two Bundesliga titles – that became a blueprint for how FSG wanted to operate.
Klopp’s availability, allied to that of out-of-work Ancelotti, offers a ready-made alternative for Henry should he decide Rodgers is unable to reverse a decline that began with the sale of Luis Suárez in the summer of 2014. However, there is no guarantee that Klopp would be as attractive to FSG now as he was during his most successful spell in Dortmund and, if Rodgers went, Liverpool would explore numerous options.
Klopp won the Bundesliga in 2011 and 2012, a year in which he completed the ‘double’ in German football. He lost the 2013 Champions League final to Bayern at Wembley, and opted for a break from football at the end of last season after a difficult final year.
Ancelotti, meanwhile, is a multiple title and Champions League winner across Europe. If Liverpool seek a safe pair of hands having earlier favoured an up-and-coming coach, there is no doubt the Italian will have his boardroom supporters. Liverpool are seeking immediate results with the existing squad rather than another long-term project involving another era of rebuilding. The fact that two highly respected managers are available and seemingly open to the prospect of moving to Anfield is leaving Rodgers even more vulnerable.
In 2012, Liverpool were also interested in Ajax’s Frank De Boer, who won four consecutive league titles in Holland. Should the club change their coaching structure, former club captain Steven Gerrard’s name is sure to be a topic of conversation as Liverpool seek to establish how soon he is reintegrated back into the club.
After facing Villa tomorrow, Liverpool play Sion in the Europa League and then travel to Everton for the Merseyside derby on Oct 4. That fixture already has a defining look about it, coming before a two-week international break. Many will be circling the first week of October as a pivotal period.
The unequivocal boardroom backing that was offered after the most sobering defeats last season – specifically the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Villa and 6-1 loss to Stoke City – has evaporated.
FSG always said they would make sound judgments based on results and performances, but more studiously with an eye on the longer-term. As a Liverpool team valued at £130 million toiled to get beyond the centre-halves of Carlisle, the here and now was so wretched few dared to think how much worse it could get.
Henry is not in the business of making knee-jerk decisions, but any judgment made in the coming weeks cannot be assumed to be such.
Rodgers remained in post midway through last season – and he also survived the miserable end to the last campaign – because the club did not want to act based on a poor run or one disappointing campaign given how well the manager and team performed a year earlier.
Should Rodgers pay the price in the next few weeks, it will not be a direct consequence of what has happened at the start of this season but a culmination of the last 14 months.
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