Elber Is Wrong: Why Klopp Is Not the Man to Replace Guardiola at Bayern Munich

On Thursday, former Bayern Munich striker Giovane Elber asserted that the club would do well to sign Jurgen Klopp to take over as head coach when Pep Guardiola leaves the Allianz Arena.

Expecting the Spaniard to leave at the end of his current contract, which expires in just over 12 months, the ex-Brazil international claimed the former Borussia Dortmund coach would be perfect to take over as the club's next manager.

"I think that Pep is gone after this season," Elber said to Audi Star Talk (h/t Goal). "If you have Jurgen Klopp available, what more do you want? I think Klopp takes a year off and then comes to us."

There are many reasons to believe Klopp is the best man to replace Guardiola. He already has a great rapport with Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze, whom he helped develop into superstars at Dortmund. He could also conceivably convince other stars to leave BVB for the Allianz Arena.

His philosophy toward football is very typical of the modern German game and something he helped develop. In 2013, Klopp even accused, per the Independent, then-Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes of copying his style, a critique that was not fully accurate but included more than just a grain of truth.

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Elber "I think that Pep Guardiola is gone after this season. If you have Jürgen Klopp available, what more do you want?"

— Home of Fußball (@ExcitableExpert) June 4, 2015"

Yet Bayern cannot reasonably sign Klopp, not without doing a complete U-turn and essentially writing off the three years they'll have had under Guardiola.

When the Bavarians signed Guardiola, they made an existential choice. As Markus Feldenkirchen and Juan Moreno wrote for Der Spiegel in their expose of how the ex-Barcelona man became Bayern coach, one of the biggest motivations for the German giants was to become more marketable, to build a brand outside Germany by bringing in the kind of international superstars recognized around the world as the very best.

That was a possibility, at least at the coaching level, and when Guardiola became available, they didn't hesitate to make plans for life after Heynckes.

Guardiola changed everything in Munich upon arrival. It was obvious on the pitch in the team's completely new playing style. Rafinha was back in the starting lineup, Javi Martinez was moved from midfield to defense and Philipp Lahm brought from right-back to central midfield.

Yet there was much, much more. Training became less functional and more technically dazzling. Gotze and Thiago Alcantara, previously unattainable players, didn't hesitate to move to Munich. And as part of their concerted effort to develop their marketability, Bayern opened offices in New York and China.

Markus Schreiber/Associated Press

In terms of style, signing Klopp would be a complete reversal back in the direction of Heynckes' team. Just as Guardiola undid all that Heynckes had done in favor of a completely different ethos, Klopp would undo all that Guardiola did. Such a complete reversal would would be an admission of a mistake that would be just too much for Bayern to commit.

Tactically, Bayern would need to take time to learn Klopp's system. And it may not suit the players very well, depending on the age of the squad at the time. One of the biggest problems Klopp faced at Dortmund was that his ultra-aggressive pressing game was not sustainable in the long term, not for a club that can regularly expect to play as many games as Bayern do in the average season.

Toward the end of his tenure in Dortmund, his side often looked tactically clueless and devoid of finesse. A break from coaching may be what he needs to modify his philosophy on coaching, but it's uncertain as to whether he'll be able to bounce back and coach an ambitious team at the highest level in the long term.

Finally, Klopp is not a superstar in the way that Guardiola, Jose Mourinho or Carlo Ancelotti are. He's a coach who won the Bundesliga twice and flirted with doing the unthinkable by winning the Champions League with precious little resources. However, his time in Dortmund ended in disgrace. German players would perhaps be attracted to Bayern under Klopp, but they would be regardless of his presence.

Foreigners would not see his tenure as an advantage. Nor would neutrals around the world be any more interested in Bayern if Klopp were the head coach. To the contrary, they might even see his appointment as a backward step.

When the time comes, the decision to replace Guardiola will be a difficult one. Bayern's management will have to decide not only who will be able to bring success to the club, but who has the star power and the philosophical identity to follow the Catalan trainer. It will depend on who is available at the time and will be anything but simple. But one thing is for certain: Klopp is not the right man for the job.

@Mr_Bundesliga