CRUCIAL MENT Klopp’s at a crossroads
SIR ALEX FERGUSON could have been described as putting on a brave face.
Until he explained just how excruciating it felt to be honouring Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp with the LMA Manager of the Year award in London recently.
“This is agony, absolute agony,” the former Old Trafford supremo said with a smile, leaning on the podium with exaggerated despair as he handed over the trophy that is now named in his honour.
Klopp, despite those joyous scenes as he and his players toured the city on an open-top bus the morning after the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, would have felt that same emptiness in the pit of his stomach.
And not just because they fell excruciatingly short in both the Premier League and European Cup.
“I have the strong feeling we will come again,” the German said not long after the final whistle blew in Paris. “That is how it is because the boys are really competitive.”
Klopp (inset) turns 55 on June 16 and, ahead of his seventh full season in charge at Anfield, it feels as if the process must soon begin of dismantling his first great team with precise execution.
When Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford in November 1986, he was a month shy of his 45th birthday. Within a decade he had turned United from also-rans to English football’s dominant force.
Ferguson produced a side forged on steel and style to win back-to-back titles in 1992/93 and 93/94.
The emergence of the famed Class of ’92 ushered in a new era carefully orchestrated by Ferguson.
One lean year, 94/95, was followed by another double of league titles in ’96 and ’97 before the Treble of 1999 – Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup.
It is a feat which remains unmatched but, for Ferguson, his ability to evolve and rise to different challenges in a changing football landscape marked him out as the top dog.
There seemed a natural tradition to the sparring with Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger, before the arrival of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea paved the way for the modern-day super clubs that rule now.
Klopp, backed by American owners Fenway Sports Group, is contending with Manchester City, backed by the nation state of Abu Dhabi.
Ferguson was able to build and rebuild to sustain success, the last of his great sides delivering five more league titles between 2007 and 2013, when he eventually retired.
Another Champions League triumph was sandwiched in between in 2008, not to mention two final defeats.
Klopp’s management of change and the natural ebbing of time will now shape the success of his longevity.
Sadio Mane and Mo Salah’s immediate futures are in doubt, but their situations are only sideshows. The most important figure of all is Klopp, the man who has already signed a new contract to remain in charge until 2026. Change will be necessary, and unavoidable, during this time. Shaping it, moulding it and creating the framework to stay at the top will not be easy. Indeed, as Ferguson said: “Agony, absolute agony.”
But it is a pain worth persevering with.