An absolute icon of modern Football, Jürgen Klopp, recently announced his retirement from the beautiful game as a Coach. It was in January when Jürgen Klopp talked about his decision to step down as Liverpool Coach at the end of the season. He stated that he was “running out of energy” as one of the biggest reasons for deciding to take a break from the sport of his life.
Ever since taking over the English Club, Klopp has taken the Reds to newer and newer heights.
He was the one who introduced the geggenpressing style of play at the Scouse Club. “As of today, that’s it for me as a coach. I didn’t quit on a whim, but it was a general decision. I’ve also coached the best clubs in the world,” Jürgen Klopp stated at the International Coaches‘ Congress in Germany. So with Jürgen Klopp retiring from the sport, let’s take a look at 3 of his greatest achievements and 3 things he couldn’t achieve.
Jürgen Klopp’s top 3 achievements as a Coach
1. The 2013 UCL Final and Two Bundesliga Titles with BVB Dortmund
While his fame reached its highest point with Liverpool Football Club, it was at BVB Dortmund where Jürgen Klopp made his mark first as a coach in Football. In 3 back-to-back seasons, he led the German Club to 3 wonderful achievements. Firstly Dortmund won the Bundesliga in the 2010-11 season and in the 2011-12 season under Klopp. Then, he defied all odds as he took Borrusia Dortmund to the 2013 Champions League final which he sadly lost to domestic rivals Bayern Munich. To give context to how big of an achievement the two league titles were, since 2013, Bayern Munich won 11 straight league titles in the next 11 years. This streak was very recently broken by Bayer Leverkusen
2. Revitalizing Liverpool
It was in October 2015, that the German Manager and former Mainz player, Jürgen Klopp came to the Premier League as the manager of Liverpool. The 9 years since have been some of Liverpool’s most decorated seasons in the sport in a long long time. It was here, that Jürgen Klopp’s Geggenpressing style of play became more and more evident. His scouting at Liverpool reached new heights and he made careers of players like Mo Salah, Mane, Virgil Van Djik etc. The tip of the iceberg was Europe’s Ultimate prize. Klopp’s Liverpool won the 2019 UCL after falling short in the season before. The next season, they managed to win the Premier League as well.
3. Rivalry with Pep Guardiola
Pep Guardiola is arguably the greatest football coach of all time. And Jürgen Klopp is the coach who has had the most victories against Pep Guardiola in competitive matches. The Rivalry started when Guardiola made the move to Bayern Munich from Barcelona. And it continued after Guardiola followed Klopp to the Premier League and joined as the head coach of Manchester City. Klopp has defeated Guardiola a record 11 times, 4 more than any other manager. Again, it’s important to note that Jürgen Klopp arguably had it harder than Pep, considering the Spaniard had a lot of financial backing at Bayern and City while Klopp never had a big bank to rely on.
3 Things Klopp failed to achieve
1. Invincible Premier League season
Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool was very close to achieving what only Arsenal has done in the Premier League Era. Winning the Premier League unbeaten. In the 2018-19 season, Liverpool lost a solitary game against Manchester City which in the end cost them the title. Had they won that game or even tied it, Liverpool would’ve won an invincible League Title.
2. Getting the better of Madrid in the UCL
Don’t ever ask Jürgen Klopp about Real Madrid and the UEFA Champions League. The 2018 Final in Kyiv, The 2022 Final in Paris. Winners= Real Madrid. Runners-up= Liverpool FC. And then, of course, there was that 6-2 drubbing in the 2023 UCL season.
3. Winning multiple Premier Leagues
Jürgen Klopp managed only a singular Premier League title in the 9 years he was their manager. Not a good image for someone of his calibre. But mostly, it was purely down to Man City being the best team in the league.
