Tuesday 6 October 2015 12:50, UK
Jurgen Klopp is the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Brendan Rodgers as Liverpool manager, and Sky sources say the Reds have already been in contact with the German's representatives.
Liverpool are hoping to announce their new manager before they resume their Premier League campaign against Tottenham after the international break, and Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson has even suggested a deal for Klopp may have already been agreed.
A host of former Liverpool players have backed Klopp for the job, and here, Nick Wright outlines the reasons why appointing the former Borussia Dortmund manager would make sense for the Reds…
Rebuilding Dortmund
The comparisons between Dortmund and Liverpool are obvious. In the words of Sky Sports' German football reporter Sascha Bacinski, both clubs have "a lot of history, a lot of potential, and a lot of tradition."
"Even the cities are very comparable," Bacinski added. "Both working class cities with a lot of industries." Like Liverpool now, Dortmund were something of a sleeping giant when Klopp took over in 2008. Against all odds, he lifted the former Champions League winners from 13th to fifth in the Bundesliga in his first season, and soon enough they were challenging for major honours.
Dortmund's trademark, high-octane playing style won admirers across Europe and in Klopp's third season at the Westfalenstadion, he guided them to the first of back-to-back Bundesliga titles. There was also a German Cup success, and they reached the Champions League final in 2013, where they were only narrowly beaten by Bayern Munich.
Essentially, Klopp has already achieved exactly what Liverpool want. He was loyal and devoted to the "project" at Dortmund throughout his seven-year stay, and the comments of his agent Marc Kosicke in September are starting to look prophetic.
"We do not only think about the top four [in the Premier League] because there are some other great clubs below them," Kosicke said. "It is always all about the challenge." There are few greater challenges in football than reviving Liverpool's fortunes, and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher thinks Klopp is the man for the task.
"Forget talking about the title. I think it needs someone with that energy and drive to get the club back to where it wants to be, and I think Jurgen Klopp is that man," he said on Super Sunday.
Finding and nurturing talent
In order to upset the odds in the face of Bayern's far greater financial resources with Dortmund, Klopp needed to be clever in the transfer market. His excellent track record in recruitment and his ability to develop young players will have been noted by Liverpool, whose expensive mistakes have proved so costly in recent seasons.
Klopp's Dortmund was very much his own creation. Mats Hummels, Shinji Kagawa, Ilkay Gundogan, Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus and Mario Gotze became elite talents under his guidance, and he also kept them competitive when key players were lured away.
Klopp lost at least one of his prized assets every summer from 2011 onwards, when the Bundesliga's Player of the Year Nuri Sahin departed for Real Madrid, and it was only after years of rolling with the punches that they finally began to stumble last season.
It would be unfair to judge Klopp by his final campaign at Dortmund. The resilience and adaptability he showed earlier in his reign is exactly what Liverpool need as they search for a new identity following the departures of the likes of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling.
Winning personality?
"Klopp has that aura and special something about him. He can walk into Anfield and the fans would like that." It's fair to say Jamie Redknapp's comments struck a chord with many Liverpool supporters on Sunday night.
Klopp oozes charisma. From bear-hugging his players to celebrating successful tackles on the touchline, his passion spills into everything he does.
His connection with the fans at Dortmund and his appreciation of their famous 'Yellow Wall' suggests he could easily win over the Kop, and his straight-talking style would go down well with fans who grew weary of Rodgers' management jargon.
"I am a very emotional guy," said Klopp in 2013. "What I love, I do with all I have," he added. "I fight for justice. It's a very important point for me. You give all, there's no guarantee that you get all but if you give all maybe you can get something." Klopp wears his heart on his sleeve and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Question of style
For all the talk of Rodgers' philosophy, he leaves a Liverpool side with no discernible playing style. The Reds lost their way in the wake of their 2013/14 title tilt, but Klopp's devotion to high-pressing, counter-attacking football would give them something concrete to build on.
Klopp famously likened his playing style to "heavy metal" in 2013, and he values hard work above all else. "How do you make the difference? You cannot make the difference because you have the better ideas or a genius moment. You make the difference if you work more than others," he once said.
Jurgen Klopp is the ideal man for the Liverpool job, say Sky Sports pundits.
"It's not the most important stat but I love it when I read that we run more than the opponent. You can get respect if you do this and you have more chance to be successful."
Sky Sports' German football reporter Bacinski is adamant Liverpool would love Klopp's "full-throttle" approach. "If you have seen the games of Dortmund over the last year, you can imagine how the fans of Liverpool would love this kind of football," he said.
"It's a very offensive football, it's a very intense type of football where the whole team attacks very early. In Germany it's called full-throttle football. That's what Klopp stands for and that's what he would like to bring to Liverpool, if he became manager."
