Diego Simeone or Jurgen Klopp; Who's Better Suited For Premier League Success?

That we are almost at Christmas and yet to see a Premier League manager sacked is one of the more pleasant surprises of the season. If it is not quite an expression of universal satisfaction among chairmen and fans across England, it is certainly an indicator that the most commercially successful domestic championship in the world is lacking a queue of available A-list head coaches to step in immediately as stands.

How long that will continue to be the case remains to be seen. Jurgen Klopp and Diego Simeone are names that continue to be placed on supporters’ wish lists, and loom like spectres over managers with problems, such as in this story in The Guardian’s gossip column, linking Simeone with Manchester City, before the midweek Champions League win at Roma silenced Manuel Pellegrini’s critics for now.

Certainly, Klopp nailed his own colours to the mast in a television interview with BT Sport last month, when he said that England was “the only (other) country where I should work, really, next to Germany. It's the only country I know the language a little bit and I need the language for my work.”

Martin Meissner/Associated Press/Associated Press

This feeling was hardly a secret, having previously underlined his thirst for the frenetic when describing himself as more a fan of heavy metal than the orchestra, as per The Guardian. His vivacious touchline personality and his Dortmund team’s verve—which has endured in Europe, even if not in the Bundesliga this season—means his admiration for England is largely requited.

That, and Dortmund’s continued domestic struggles, have kept Klopp’s name constantly in the news by hook or by crook, almost overshadowing, as argued recently by Bleacher Report’s own Peter Galindo, Simeone. It is difficult to argue, that there is a better managerial motivator than Simeone anywhere in world football right now.

Even before the start of the season his achievements spoke for themselves. Coming within a few minutes of a La Liga/Champions League double, he had already snared the Europa League and the Copa del Rey, against Real Madrid themselves at the Bernabeu. That he did it against the might of El Real and Barcelona, and hardly with bottomless funds as the club ran a debt comparable to that of Valencia, made it little more than astonishing.

Perhaps even more of a feather in Simeone’s cap is Atleti’s continued competitiveness this season, with a vastly altered squad, which speaks volumes for his adaptability. “It’s the same in the end,” midfielder Raul Garcia told me in a Guardian Football film last month. “We have changed many of the players but we haven’t changed the style.”

Juventus could bear testimony to that, shut out twice by the obdurate Spanish champions in a pair of heavyweight clashes in their Champions League group. The Scudetto holders are one of the best sides in Europe, and as tough as they come. Simeone’s side, it appeared over the duration of those two encounters, are even tougher.

That unwavering commitment (again, something that would appeal in England) is exactly what Simeone demands of his players. If Klopp’s style is more big brother, then "Cholo" is firmly in the dad camp. Whether his form of tough love would fly with some of the Premier League’s leading stars is, however, open to question.

Klopp, of course, has had to face an even bigger ogre than Simeone in domestic competition, being pitted up against successive Bayern Munich sides—under Jupp Heynckes and Pep Guardiola—which were the best in Europe, even allowing for last season’s Champions League semi-final implosion against Real Madrid.

He is hard enough in a different way, and he has come back from bitter disappointment before, riding out Mainz’s relegation in 2007 and the subsequent failure to clinch promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt.

We have a better idea of Klopp’s sustainability, and potential cultural adaptability, given Simeone’s limited (if stellar) path in Europe so far. Not only is the German more likely to end up in England, he is more likely to make himself at home there.