In the world of sports, it is harsh but true that the
victory does not always go to the most deserving.
There is an extensive list of legendary athletes who
never claimed their sport’s greatest honour. Names such as Dan Marino, Chris
Paul, and Jonah Lomu come to mind.
This equally applies to coaches. Some of the greatest
coaches in the history of European football have never won the European Cup or
Champions League. The likes of Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Hennes Weisweiler, Bill
Shankly, and Diego Simeone have fallen short of the most prestigious title in
club football.
Another all-time great coach can be added to this list.
What’s more, he may very well be the greatest of the lot. In fact, he is close
to being, if not already, the holder of the unwanted title of “greatest coach
to have never won the Champions League”.
This is someone who revolutionized European football when
he first burst onto the scene; has demonstrated incredible skill in getting the
best out of his players throughout his coaching career; led a fallen giant back
to excellence with two league titles, a domestic Double, and a run to the
Champions League final; and revived the fortunes of another fallen giant which
he also took to the Champions League final. Yet, despite all of this, it looks
like once again, the biggest prize in European club football will once again
elude him.
The coach I am referring to is Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp.
After a crushing 3-0 loss to Barcelona in the first leg
of their Champions League semifinal, Liverpool have almost certainly been
knocked out of Europe’s leading club tournament. What made the loss even more galling
for the Reds was the fact that the scoreline did not reflect the balance of the
game. Liverpool were certainly not outclassed and, for much of the match, held
their own against Barça. The difference lay in the fact that while Luis Suárez
and Leo Messi converted their chances, Mo Salah and Sadio Mané did not.
For Klopp, this represented yet another near-miss in the
Champions League. This has become familiar territory for the German.
In 2013, he took Borussia Dortmund to the final, only to
be denied by arch-rivals Bayern Munich. A year later, Dortmund were knocked out
in a nail-biter of a quarterfinal against eventual champions Real Madrid. Just
last year, Klopp led Liverpool to the final, but he was once again denied by
Real.
For a coach of his calibre, Klopp has won far fewer
titles than one would think. In his 18-year coaching career including stints at
the helm of Mainz, Dortmund, and Liverpool, Klopp has only amassed two
Bundesliga titles and one DFB-Pokal. He even experienced relegation to the 2.
Bundesliga while coaching Mainz in 2007.
Now, it is true that with coaches, number of titles won
does not always tell the whole story. Klopp has also seldom been blessed with
squads full of stars and laden with talent. That being said (and I write this
next part as the biggest admirer of Klopp), at what point does he no longer get
a pass for these late-tournament failures?
There can be absolutely no doubt of his coaching acumen
from a tactical standpoint as well as a man-management one. His “Gegenpressing”
strategy changed the football metagame and made early 2010s Dortmund truly a
team to be feared. He has also helped players such as Robert Lewandowski, Mats
Hummels, Salah, and Virgil van Dijk blossom into superstars.
However, the fact that the man who is supposedly perhaps “the
best coach in the world” only has three titles to his name this deep into his
coaching career also tells its own story. “Kloppo” is undoubtedly a great
coach, but if he is to ever put himself in contention for “Mount Rushmore”
status, he needs at least one (but probably more) Champions League title. It is
these titles which separate one who is a “great coach” from one who is “one of
the greatest coaches of all time”.
With all that Jürgen Klopp has already done, a Champions
League title would serve as the ultimate boost to his legacy. Unfortunately for
him, however, it appears as though this title might not arrive for quite some
time.
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