Jurgen Klopp Should Have Replaced Jose Mourinho at Chelsea, Says Craig Burley

Former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley continued his attack on Blues manager Jose Mourinho on Thursday, expressing his disappointment the club didn't try and replace the Portuguese coach with new Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

Burley, who previously blasted Mourinho in the wake of the controversy surrounding club doctor Eva Carneiro (h/t talkSPORT's Alex Varney), once again went on the offensive when he appeared on talkSPORT's The Sports Bar.

As noted by Varney, he said:

"

I said a couple of weeks ago when all this nonsense was going on [with Mourinho] that Chelsea should get rid of this guy now.

Klopp was out there, he was going to go to Liverpool, and Chelsea should have gone and got him. That didn’t happen and clearly it wasn’t going to happen but that was my opinion of what they should have done. I would have gone and got him

"

Burley stated he doesn't want Mourinho to be sacked because the Blues' recent results haven't been up to par, but rather because of his behaviour, which he claims is hurting Chelsea's global brand.

Mourinho certainly didn't help his case when he lashed out at the Football Association's decision to fine him £50,000 and hand him a suspended stadium ban for his seven-minute rant after the loss against Southampton. Per Sky Sports, he called the measures “a disgrace.”

Sport Witness didn't think that was the proper way to approach the situation:

Amid all of that, the London Evening Standard's James Olley came out with claims the manager reportedly faces a “mutiny,” as several first-team players are unhappy with how he handles the dressing room and have even given him a derogatory nickname.

Clearly, Burley was given plenty of ammunition for his latest rant. The defending Premier League champions currently sit in 16th place in the standings, well behind league-leaders Manchester City, and at this point of the season, even qualification for the UEFA Champions League seems like a distant dream.

Despite all of that, Mourinho never looked likely to get the sack. The Portuguese manager guided Chelsea to a fantastic Premier League campaign just last season and has been responsible for some of the club's biggest successes―one poor, controversy-laced start to the season won't put him out of a job.

Burley, who now works as a pundit and commentator for ESPN FC, isn't exactly known for holding back his opinions, and more often than not, they're not particularly popular with the fans, via ESPN FC's Dan Thomas:

Klopp's biggest achievement has been the Borussia Dortmund project, where he took a struggling club and turned it into a perennial winner in the Bundesliga. Projects is what he does best―he's never taken control of a team and immediately turned around their fortunes.

He's the perfect manager for Liverpool, who need to develop their young talent and add to their squad in the transfer market in the coming years, and likewise, Liverpool is the perfect club for him and his strengths.

Patience is the key with Klopp, and given Chelsea's standing in modern football, patience is the one thing fans and the club board don't have.

Chelsea need to win, and despite their rocky start to the 2015-16 campaign, winning is still something Mourinho does better than most. You don't just sack a manager because you might be able to steal Klopp from Liverpool.

Follow @ReverschPass