Jurgen Klopp: Borussia Dortmund Manager a Victim of Circumstance
After stating his belief that karma would catch up with Bayern Munich, Jurgen Klopp's Borussia Dortmund are presumably hoping for good karma in 2015 after entering the winter break with 15 points from 17 Bundesliga games.
Klopp, 47, a two-time Bundesliga-winning German manager, is on course to replicate his 2006-07 season for Mainz with relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.
Instead of glibly demanding Borussia Dortmund fire Klopp, you need to be fair-minded.
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Before you slate Klopp's inconsistent, mulish and uninspiring tactics, you need to acknowledge he is, to an extent, a victim of circumstance.
Following Saturday's defeat to Werder Bremen, Klopp said, per BBC Sport:
"Any criticism that will be unloaded on us now is completely justified.
...
That we stand here like complete idiots serves us right. We now have three weeks of preparations ahead of us which we will use intensively to come back a different team and hit back.
"
A different Borussia Dortmund team may have been Bayern Munich's endgame when they pragmatically signed Mario Gotze for €37 million and Robert Lewandowski on a free transfer.
When unimpeded by injuries, Gotze is Germany's most likely footballer to take his game to the next level, an upper echelon reserved for Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
Gotze already has two achievements Ronaldo and Messi lack—a FIFA World Cup winners' medal and the winning goal in a World Cup final.
Bayern Munich have first-hand experience of Gotze's big-game heroics.
News of Bayern Munich acquiring Gotze broke during Borussia Dortmund's preparation for the 2013 UEFA Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
"The timing of it is not ideal," Klopp said, per PA Sport (h/t SBS). "Anybody can make their own minds up as to why it's come out now, but it is out."
Lewandowski, a complete centre-forward, scored 44 league goals in his final two Bundesliga seasons for Borussia Dortmund.
From 1992 to 2012, Bayern Munich only signed two Borussia Dortmund players: Torsten Frings (2004) and Thomas Helmer (1992).
Bayern Munich systematically poaching Gotze and Lewandowski, two vital players in Klopp's system, in back-to-back seasons was designed to disrupt Borussia Dortmund.
This was confirmed by ex-Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, who had misgivings about his former employer targeting Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus.
"Consider it carefully," Hoeness said, per Bild (h/t Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC). "Do you really want to win the title by Christmas?"
Bayern Munich have set off a domino effect that has brought Borussia Dortmund to their knees.
In reaction to losing Gotze and Lewandowski, Borussia Dortmund approached the transfer market with vigour, spending around €106.7 million in the last two seasons.
Evidently, Borussia Dortmund's management has compartmentalised what endangered the club in the past, per Christoph Rauwald and Eyk Henning at the Wall Street Journal:
"[Borussia Dortmund] gambled on a bunch of expensive foreign stars and quickly fell apart.
The following season, it failed to qualify for the lucrative Champions League and Dortmund soon found itself in the lower reaches of the table, some $140 million in debt and on the verge of insolvency.
The club escaped bankruptcy in 2006 through a last-minute deal with Morgan Stanley.
"
It was as if Borussia Dortmund management believed every signing was going to be a home run.
It was a shift away from what Klopp is familiar with, who used to joke about the process of signing players while hamstrung by Mainz's frugal budget.
"We're still encouraged to phone players directly," Klopp said, per FIFA.com. "If we make their agents an offer, they usually think we're pulling their leg."
Arriving at Borussia Dortmund in 2008, Klopp dismissed the idea of making any marquee signings.
"We do not yet have the financial means to sign those players," Klopp said, per BVB.de. "Rather, we will sign players with the potential to develop."
Klopp never really fancied big-money footballers, considering his background as an average second-division standard one-club man at Mainz.
"It doesn't make it any easier to run your heart out when you've just woken up in a five-star hotel," Klopp said, per FIFA.com. "Too much comfort makes you comfortable."
Borussia Dortmund chief executive officer Hans-Joachim Watzke and sports director Michael Zorc spent €27.5 million on Henrikh Mkhitaryan and €19.4 million on Ciro Immobile.
Prior to tearing a thigh muscle, Mkhitaryan failed to register a goal or assist in 935 minutes of Bundesliga play this season.
The more chances Mkhitaryan squandered (0-34 in goals to shots taken), the more he struggled.
Klopp would probably not have been compelled to play Mkhitaryan into form if he cost €2.75 million rather than €27.5 million.
While Immobile is a better finisher than Mkhitaryan, going off his 3-31 goals-to-shots-taken ratio, the returns do not reflect a €19.4 million-valued No.9.
It is not Klopp's fault if Immobile strays into an offside position at inopportune moments.
"We missed some really good chances and our opponents seem to be scoring with almost their first chance," Klopp said, per Bundesliga.com. "Breaking that [cycle] is a huge challenge we've got to overcome."
Yes, Klopp deserves criticism for overseeing Borussia Dortmund's confidence crisis, but the players are also at fault, per Stephan Uersfeld at ESPN FC:
"Ruhr Nachrichten wrote: 'In a negative sense, [Borussia Dortmund] worked hard for it. While at the beginning the injuries and the fragmented pre-season might have been excuses, they are now playing like a club struggling to stay in the league.'
Spiegel opined that BVB played 'like a relegated team' and questioned whether the players had accepted the reality of their situation.
"
Defence
Despite Borussia Dortmund being in the relegation zone, there are 11 goalkeepers with 10 starts or more who average more saves per game (3.0 plus) than Roman Weidenfeller (2.9).
Klopp was right to replace Weidenfeller for Mitchell Langerak, holding out hope he can emulate Felix Wiedwald and Ralf Fahrmann, two former backups who starred as first choice.
Mats Hummels, Neven Subotic and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have not started 85 percent of Bundesliga games this season.
It means Klopp has put his faith in Matthias Ginter, whose defensive positioning has been Dejan Lovren bad.
If Ginter qualified for Kicker's player rankings, his current rating (4.50) would see him ranked as 199th—the worst in the Bundesliga.
Lukasz Piszczek is solid, but Erik Durm gives possession away 31.3 percent of the time he passes, while Marcel Schmelzer is no Ricardo Rodriguez.
Klopp's hands are tied when it comes to fixing the defence.
Midfield
Nuri Sahin and Jakub Blaszczykowski are still working their way to full match fitness.
If Milos Jojic and Sebastian Kehl are allowed to run around and not provide adequate support to Borussia Dortmund's defence, then Klopp may as well play Mustafa Amini.
The fact Klopp has resorted to playing squad player Oliver Kirch shows how bare this midfield is.
Kevin Grosskreutz is not a passing outlet, defensive presence or an attacking threat. He has been a passenger in games, as has Shinji Kagawa, who has scored just once in 777 minutes this season.
Ilkay Gundogan—a creative spark—and Sven Bender—a tireless tackler—are the only midfielders Klopp can trust.
Attack
Marco Reus suffering a lateral ankle ligament rupture after a late challenge from Paderborn central midfielder Marvin Bakalorz encapsulates Borussia Dortmund's torturous season thus far.
In Reus' last eight games, he has scored five times and accumulated three assists.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been mercurial. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ciro Immobile have exuded wastefulness.
Adrian Ramos had two productive months and has been missing in action ever since.
If there is one valid criticism of Klopp, it is being loyal to his players, just like Klaus Toppmoller was when his Bayer Leverkusen side went from Champions League finalists to a bottom-half Bundesliga team.
"Now it's the players' turn. No one can hide away," Toppmoller said, per the Express (h/t SBS). "Maybe I made the mistake in that I kept behind some players for too long, as I was grateful for last season's success."
Former Bayer Leverkusen general manager Reiner Calmund broke down the club's struggles at the time, and there are parallels to Borussia Dortmund's wretched first half of the season, per UEFA.com:
"We couldn't compensate for [Michael] Ballack and Ze Robert leaving [for Bayern Munich].
Leading players in the team such as [Ulf] Kirsten, Lucio and [Jens] Nowotny were out of action through injury. These personalities were difficult to replace.
We were all a bit too lax before the season: the players, the coach and even myself as general manager.
If you're too lax in football, it can be fatal.
"
"Less than 12 months ago [Toppmoller] was one of the most sought-after coaches in Europe," per Tom McCoy at BBC Sport. "[Now] Toppmoller finds himself amongst the ranks of the unemployed."
Toppmoller was sacked after receiving backing from Calmund, which is a vote of confidence.
Right now, Klopp could be having similar thoughts to Armin Veh, who resigned from Stuttgart following a rough patch.
"Sometimes you fight and fight but can't change it," Veh said, per Raphael Honigstein at the Guardian. "[It is] one of those spells when things don't go your way. That's s---, so it's better if I'm no longer around."
Thinking is one thing, doing is another.
Back Klopp, rather than kicking him when he's down.
If you are in the business of advocating Klopp should lose his job, then be an equal opportunist.
Add in Watzke, Zorc, the entire scouting department and all of the Borussia Dortmund players who have failed the coach.
Instead of firing Klopp, the message should be "you'll never walk alone."
When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com
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