Why Jurgen Klopp Will Still Be a Top Managerial Target After His Break

As it seems to be the cool thing to do in football management these days, Jurgen Klopp has decided to take something of a sabbatical following his final season with Borussia Dortmund.

The Bundesliga side will march on next season with new coach Thomas Tuchel while one of Europe's most prominent managers looks set to simply take a break from the beautiful game. 

“After seven intensive and emotional years of ‘true love,’ I think it makes sense to take time to take stock of the countless memories before me and my fellow coaching team embrace a new challenge, fresh and highly motivated,” Klopp told the media on June 1 (h/t the Guardian).

Sure, he may pop up at a game here or there, appear quoted in a newspaper from time to time and even make an appearance on German TV, but by and large football will have to get on with things without the charismatic coach.

Yet what will become of the former Dortmund manager during his time off from the sport? Will football forget about everyone's favourite manager or will he be in just as much demand a year from now as he is at the moment?

The simplest answer to this question is of course, yes.

Not only is Klopp immensely popular among neutral fans for his comedy and baffling expressions throughout the 90 minutes, but he is a very good coach. 

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

We need only look at West Ham's new appointment of Slaven Bilic to see just how well a fun, fashionable manager can do in the modern game. The former Croatia manager has done very little since Euro 2008, yet the 46-year-old coach has been a forerunner in every meaningful manager role since that very competition.

Imagine that multiplied by 100 when we consider that Klopp is actually competent at his job.

This is of course based around the idea of the manager's legacy, which Klopp undoubtedly has by the truckload.

What the manager achieved at Dortmund over the course of his seven years was something akin to a fairytale in the modern game, meaning fans of the German side and the sport in general will forever remember just how the Black and Yellows fought their way to the top of the Bundesliga table.

Although such an achievement may come to hang around Klopp's neck as a notable weight as he tries to surpass it with different sides at other clubs, for now his reputation remains intact because of the sheer joy he brought to fans and neutrals alike.

It's this concept that history will be kind on the German coach that also suggests that Klopp will be just as popular next summer.

Sure, the troubles Dortmund went through this season were primarily his fault as he struggled to freshen up their tactics and formations or bring in players to replace the departing stars, but by the time next summer rolls around, very few will remember or indeed care.

Football fans are fickle.

It's a truism as much as it is a cliche in this fast-paced sport, and as quickly as Klopp is once again linked with the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham or any other large club, their fans will indeed turn to his brighter moments in Dortmund rather than the train wreck that was his final year in the Bundesliga.

Another aspect of the modern game that favours Klopp's stock price is the high turnover of managers within football these days. So many young coaches have been in the German's shoes before, only to be hoovered up by leagues such as the Premier League and then spat out.

Andre Villas-Boas, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Brendan Rodgers are all relatively young managers who were once heralded as the next generation of coaches.

Now down on their luck, they offer very little to any potential suitors except damaged goods.

Such a system means the sport's stock of decent, young managers is constantly engulfing itself. No coach is given enough time to do his job anymore and therefore is always deemed not good enough.

The stock of young, good coaches in Europe has never been lower. The stock of wounded, damaged coaches still learning their trade has never been higher.

This makes Klopp look all the more appealing—he hasn't been spoilt by England yet and is still fresh and ready for the Premier League meat grinder. And that allure shall continue on until he takes his next job in the following year.

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