A German columnist has called for Jurgen Klopp to be installed as head coach of the country’s football team, a plea which isn’t likely to go down well with Liverpool fans.
The Nationalmannschaft have endured some tough times of late, eliminated at the group stage in the last two World Cups and emerging from the June international break with two losses and a draw.
That has seen some of the nation’s media heap pressure on incumbent boss Hansi Flick, with one high-profile journalist urging the DFB to make a change in the dugout 12 months out from their hosting of Euro 2024.
Matthias Brügelmann eviscerated the former Bayern manager in a column for BILD and called for an SOS plea to be made to Klopp, who he described as ‘the premium solution‘ and implored the German federation to ‘fight for him with all its might‘, believing that appointing the 56-year-old could inject a sense of ‘euphoria‘ in the country.
It’s no great surprise that Flick is coming in for heavy criticism in Germany, who’ve won only four of their last 16 matches on his watch, one of which was an ultimately fruitless defeat of Costa Rica on the night that they crashed out of the World Cup last November (Transfermarkt).
It’s also quite inevitable that Klopp would be cited as an ideal candidate to take over, given his record as a manager.
Aside from winning seven trophies at Liverpool (including the Premier League and Champions League) and overseeing the Reds consistently challenging Manchester City over the past few years, he also won two Bundesliga titles at Borussia Dortmund (Transfermarkt).
That was in addition to guiding them to just their second-ever Champions League final 10 years ago, when they were agonisingly beaten by Bayern Munich at Wembley.
It’s not just the on-field performance which has seen Reds fans fall in love with Klopp, either. From the moment he first came through the door in 2015, he formed a bond with the fan base with his people skills and inspirational messages.
Even a fifth-placed finish last season saw the vast majority of supporters reaffirm their faith in the manager, to whom a huge debt of gratitude is owed for everything he’s achieved at Anfield.
In his BILD column, Brügelmann named two other coaches in Oliver Glasner and Rudi Voller as alternative successors to Flick, so the DFB can kindly go for one of those instead if they decide to change things up.
Hands off Jurgen, lads – he’s ours!