Klopp fighting to defy his own history and solve Anfield crisis

Left his two previous clubs after periods of success went into reverse in similar fashion to Liverpool’s collapse

You do not have to search hard to identify a pattern. Early promise and the construction of both a team and entire fan base in his image. Achievements of genuinely historic proportions. An unexpected dip and struggle to reclaim past glories. And then a parting of the ways that, by football standards, was unusually amicable.

This was broadly Jurgen Klopp’s story at both FSV Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund following a seven-year reign at each. And so, with the first two phases of that cycle mirrored at Liverpool and the sixth anniversary of his appointment approaching, it would have been reasonable under any circumstances to wonder whether history might repeat further. Add Liverpool’s dismal form to the news of Joachim Low’s imminent departure as Germany manager and conjecture about Klopp’s future has become a raging certainty.

So how might the past inform the future? Are we heading towards the final chapter or will Klopp who, at 53 is already a managerial veteran of almost 900 games, fashion a different ending?

One striking aspect of Klopp’s stellar managerial career is that the departures from his two previous jobs were effectively resignations framed by his own expectations and an appraisal of what was best for the club. There was no hint of clinging to power or a pay-off.

“He is someone who questions himself all the time,” said Christian Heidel, Klopp’s chief executive at Mainz. “He sees a team, he sees the results, and he asks, ‘Could it be down to me?’ ”

Context at Mainz was everything. He had spent 11 years there as a player and was appointed by Heidel mid-season in 2001 at the age of 33. Mainz were heading for the third tier of German football but Klopp inspired six wins in seven games and they survived with a match to spare. By the end of his third full season, Mainz were in the Bundesliga for the first time in their history.

They then qualified for the Uefa Cup but, after relegation in 2007, it was Klopp who set himself the target of an immediate bounce-back promotion or the exit. They missed out by only two points, despite having the league’s second-best goal difference. Klopp was in tears as 20,000 fans stood to serenade him inside the stadium and a further 30,000 turned out in Mainz city centre to wave goodbye. But he was unmoved. Having concluded that all sides needed change, he was gone.

Borussia Dortmund was another adventure fuelled by emotion and extraordinary achievement. There were consecutive Bundesliga titles before they narrowly missed out on the 2013 Champions League and he signed a new contract to 2018. That Klopp was gone in less than two years again underlined how circumstances can rapidly shift. Yes, Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandowski had

been sold, and Ilkay Gundogan suffered a serious injury, but the pace of the team’s slide still remained staggering.

By February 2015, after 19 games and only three wins, Dortmund were bottom of the Bundesliga. “Suddenly there were some doubts – and Klopp realised these doubts,” says Oliver Muller, who was covering Dortmund for Die Welt. “He came to Hans-joachim Watzke (the Dortmund CEO) and said, ‘I’ve really got the impression that the best thing for both sides would be a change’.” An agreement was struck and then suddenly Dortmund rediscovered their form to climb from 18th to a final finishing position under Klopp of seventh. “Everyone – fans, board, players – will now say it was a great mistake to not persuade him to stay and build something new,” says Muller.

Klopp managed Mainz for 270 games. He managed Dortmund for 319. Sunday’s defeat by Fulham was his 305th match at Liverpool and, with injuries to key players amid such a dramatic dip in results, the parallel with that 2014-15 season is obvious. Klopp has even called this the worst moment of his career.

After five full seasons at Anfield, the first major crossroads is in view. And, if Klopp is to alter the path that he ultimately chose at both Mainz and Dortmund, the challenge is to demonstrate that he can renew and galvanise even when the momentum has sharply turned.