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Jürgen Klopp and the seven-year itch

It was a memorable day in Borussia Dortmund's history.

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Jürgen Klopp and the seven-year itch

It was a memorable day in Borussia Dortmund's history. On April 15, 2015, the end of an era was announced at a press conference called at short notice. Tears flowed. Not with the man who announced this Wednesday that he will leave the club after seven, mostly extremely successful and formative years. But with the one who let him go. "Jürgen, you can be sure that you will receive the eternal thanks of everyone in Borussia," said Hans-Joachim Watzke at the time. Then the managing director of BVB got up and hugged Jürgen Klopp.

The end, which came at the end of the season, had been announced for a long time. Klopp, who won two championships and the DFB Cup with BVB, which led the team to the 2013 Champions League final, felt something had to change. The conviction was gone. The team was even in a relegation zone during the winter break of the 2014/15 season. It was time, said Klopp at the time. In order for BVB to have a future, “a big head has to go. That's mine in this case." Before that he asked himself whether he was still the perfect coach for this club. He couldn't have answered her more clearly with yes.

Seven and a half years later, this question is discussed again. Doubts are increasing as to whether the 55-year-old, who, like BVB back then, led Liverpool back to the national and international top, is still the right man in the right place.

The parallels to his time in Dortmund seem striking. At Anfield Road, too, there were initially difficult years of development after Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers in October 2015. Then came the great successes: Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 and the Premier League in 2020 – for the first time in 21 years. Klopp had long since become the face of the club, a folk hero for the fans. Everything seemed to be going according to the exact same script as back then in Dortmund. Then, apparently out of the blue, the crash followed – also a bit like BVB.

Last season, Liverpool won both domestic cup competitions, fought a thrilling duel with Manchester City for the championship title and reached the Champions League final again. The team is currently 14 points behind leaders Arsenal, who lost 3-2 on Sunday. This is more than just a dent. It's a real crisis. "I'm very disappointed," said Klopp, but found it difficult to name the reasons for the downturn.

Could it be related to the disappointments at the end of last season, missing out on the league by a point and losing the premier class final 1-0 to Real Madrid? "No," said Klopp: "It feels like it's been years."

In fact, the team is miles away from the form of last year. There are weaknesses in almost every area. The defense is shaking. Virgil van Dijk shows previously unknown uncertainties. Other top performers are also weakening: This applies to left-backs such as Trend Alexander-Arnold as well as to the aging midfielders Jordan Henderson (32), James Milner (36) and Thiago (31). Goalscorer Mohamed Salah has jammed.

Even the luck with transfers seems to have left the Reds: king purchase Darwin Nunez, who switched from Benfica Lisbon for 75 million euros, has only scored two competitive goals so far. There were also injuries. "We have a lot of problems," admitted Klopp. The team is fighting against the negative trend, but making too many mistakes.

Klopp is aware that he is in the crucial phase of the season. However, his team is currently being tested by the most unpleasant opponents. "First at Arsenal, then in Glasgow, on Sunday against Manchester City - is that the ideal combination to regain confidence? Probably not," he said. "But we face this situation. We're going to fight our way out of there." Most importantly, "we don't think about what we could have won last year."

This optimism is no longer shared by all critics. "At some point we will have discussions about the coach and I'm not sure how far away we are from that," said Dietmar Hamann. The former Liverpool professional believes that the reasons for the crisis are not that different from those in Dortmund. The Reds would also need a change in personnel.

"They were at the peak of their performance in the last three or four years," Hamann told "talkSport". In the meantime, however, the team seems “tired, boring and flat”. He wasn't sure if Klopp could ignite a new fire again: "I just don't know where the spark is supposed to come from."

Klopp may have actually asked himself the same question he had asked himself towards the end of his time in Dortmund: whether he was still the right man in the right place. Only this time he got a completely different answer than back then. "I don't lack energy and the situation here is completely different," he said before the Champions League game at Glasgow Rangers on Wednesday (9 p.m., Amazon Prime Video and in the WELT live ticker). “Back then in Dortmund it was a really difficult job. Instead of developing a team, we took two steps back. And everyone asked you: why aren't you as good as last year?' he explained.

In fact, Klopp is anything but tired of office, even if the crisis has not left its mark on him. He's also a much more mature coach than he was then. Tactically, he can give more answers than he could give seven years ago. And the financial means for an upheaval are also more sufficient in Liverpool than in Dortmund.

Incidentally, at the end of his time at BVB, the team still managed to qualify for the Europa League and make it into the DFB Cup final. Hans-Joachim Watzke now calls it his biggest mistake not to have persuaded Klopp to continue.

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