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Can Klopp Revolutionize Liverpool And English Football Just Like Wenger Did When He Came To England?

 

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The similarities are startling.

The English clubs in question were giants, fallen on harder times than they had previously been used to. Both clubs had enjoyed European success, winning and losing finals along the way. But the Premier League, the key objective of every season, was as elusive as it had ever been.

For Liverpool, that descent had been two decades long; Arsenal, by comparison, had only been on a downward spiral for three seasons.

Two clubs in desperate need of a saviour. Two clubs twenty years apart.

Arsenal in 1996 were still reeling from George Graham’s dismissal following proven allegations of corruption. Bruce Rioch arrived as manager in the summer of 1995, with Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt as the marquee signings. Arsenal looked to be on the up and would finish the season in the UEFA Cup places.

But Rioch fell foul of Ian Wright, a powerful player at the club. They clashed, a strict disciplinarian and a headstrong, streetwise bundle of emotion. A player who wore his heart of his sleeve and cared passionately about the club. A player who was a terrace hero. There was only one winner and Rioch was relieved of his command.

He hadn’t been Arsenal’s first choice as manager, or certainly not Vice-chairman David Dein’s first choice. He had struck up a friendship with Arsène Wenger, a successful manager in France whose achievements appear all the more impressive following the subsequent revelations about bribery by Marseille president, Bernard Tapie.

But Dein couldn’t persuade the board to take the chance in 1995; he succeeded a year later and Wenger arrived in October 1996.

The changes Wenger wrought are well documented. Ageing stars found their careers prolonged through advances in diet and scientific analysis. English football put its foot on the accelerator to catch up with their European counterparts and Wenger benefited as Arsenal played their way stylishly to glory.

Fast forward two decades and Jurgen Klopp inherits a club in a not dissimilar state of flux. He had a positive impact in his first part-season in charge, guiding the team through to the Europa League final. There were issues as well; Klopp’s favoured gegenpressing tactic took its toll on the Liverpool squad in terms of their fitness.

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He admitted that he needed a summer to get the players to the level he wanted, where he could get them to impose his style of play on matches. It’s been hit and miss this season so far but the Reds have made a far better start than in previous years.

Football is a different game to when Wenger arrived. The Premier League is more intense than in the mid-90s. Only Manchester United were consistent title challengers before Wenger’s Arsenal joined them. Now United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham stand in Klopp’s way.

Not only that but the use of analytics and science, new in the mid-90s, is now commonplace. It’s a question of who has the best, most innovative approach. Many clubs, Liverpool included, have transfer committees or director of football responsible for interpreting data and transforming that into signings.

Managers and coaches have a wealth of information about their players to hand, to the extent where sometimes you question whether it is too much. Has the avalanche of numbers and graphs reached a point where the temptation to tinker with a line up is too great to resist?

Klopp is very much a manager of this age. Bespectacled and erudite, he is a keen proponent of data and analysis. Whilst the statistical techniques change, very little of it is revolutionary, certainly not in the way Wenger’s arrival moved the English game forward.

The German’s biggest contribution may yet be seen on the pitch. With Daniel Sturridge, Adam Lallana, Nathaniel Clyne and Jordan Henderson in the England squad and frequently in the team, Klopp can influence the mentality of the English players and improve their technique.

For too long, the England style of play has defaulted to the stereotype. Footballing Luddites, trying to pass the ball but lacking the footballing intelligence to make it do the work. 100% perspiration with 0% inspiration. The fault lies as much with the managers: Hodgson wasn’t an innovative coach whilst Sam Allardyce has the look of a chancer waiting to be found out.

This is where Klopp’s greatest impact can be felt. Creating an environment at Anfield where the players are challenged to think within the group independently as well as for the collective, is vital. Fresh insight into a way of playing the game which is alien to England and English football ought to improve thought processes from his England quartet.

If Klopp can inspire his players to find form and consistency, the benefit for England is obvious. Challenging them to think outside of their comfort zone is vital to breathe new life into a stale international set-up.

The similarities between Klopp and Wenger at this stage of their career are unmissable. Wenger left Monaco under a cloud with the club sinking to 17th in the table when he was sacked. He had spent too long at the Stade Louis II and was unable to inspire more from his previously successful players. Respite and recover came at Nagoya Grampus Eight.

Klopp was the same at Dortmund. Flirting with relegation, he quit and by the end of the season, the players had responded to reach the upper echelons of the Bundesliga. His star had waned and risen all at once. Knowing when to quit, when the inspirational message isn’t getting through, is vital. In resigning, he gave himself and the club breathing space.

Klopp won’t change English football in the way Wenger did. It’s too advanced and has its own impetus in terms of science and technology. Gegenpressing isn’t new or innovative tactically but may yet bring Liverpool success.

Klopp may though, change England as a football team. And for that, we would be eternally grateful.