Why was Jürgen Klopp given time? His reconstruction of Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, the evidence of implementing a sustainable, successful long-term vision. Creating on-pitch identity and unity through every facet of a club. Improving players, the culture
#LFC had a 60-page dossier on Klopp - everything from training sessions to his relationship with staff - before FSG met with him for four hours. The talk solidified what they already knew: he’d been there, done the kind of work the club required and was exceptionally good at it.
#LFC had a good structure behind the scenes, but without the right figure to galvanise and elevate it. Klopp came in and the same owners and ‘transfer committee’ that were slated are now recognised as leading lights in the game. He made things better, gave greater responsibility
First few months brought a recognisable playing style and two finals. First full season: Champions League spot. Then back-to-back UCL finals, winning in Madrid. 97-point season, Super Cup, Club World Cup, now 67 points from 69. This isn’t a product of just blindly giving time
You pave the way for success if you give the right man time, under the right structure, with surgical recruitment (focused on mentality + skillset) and a 'one club, one vision' approach. There then still needs to be a tirelessness in finding the edges (see set-pieces as an eg)
There will be the ‘LFC only won after buying a world-class GK and CB’ shout without the acknowledgment of how they got in the position to beat rivals to them, how they’ve changed the way targets see the club or that Coutinho’s sale funded it in another example of clever trading
The 'give me time because look over there' reasoning is nonsense. Popularist and not rooted in anything concrete. You can't transplant your situation to another club’s, which is so different. Why do *you* merit patience in *your* situation based on what *you* have done & can do?
Having an elite manager - the right fit - with a proven long-term blueprint does make a difference: in terms of the targets you can attract, reshaping the image of the club, giving greater belief to players, staff, supporters. It can be transformative
But it's not just about the manager, as pointed out. For eg: LFC have Michael Edwards doing an unbelievable job as sporting director. Man United are still without the director of football they’ve wanted since August 2018, without any solid reason as to why.
Man Utd look like a club whose owners care about investors/profit over on-pitch progress, who had no sustainable plan post-Fergie, spent big (close to £900m since summer 2013) and stupidly, have a questionable structure, don’t have a skilled DoF and have an out-of-depth manager
Time alone is not going to fix the above. And especially not time given to the wrong man (albeit a nice one with good intentions) under the wrong structure.
