Klopp's hardest test
October 19, 2014
If you had kept an eye on Jürgen Klopp for the entire 90 minutes of Borussia Dortmund's match in Cologne, you would have seen a roller coaster of emotions: a shaking head at the many simple mistakes his team made; unchecked elation when Dortmund equalized; hair-pulling for conceded goals; a blank stare toward the weak performance from his back line (which included world champs Mats Hummels and Roman Weidenfeller).
Klopp has seen the highest highs with Dortmund, winning the league-cup double in 2012 and reaching the Champions League final in 2013. Now he's in the middle of the worst crisis he's seen as coach since he took the helm six years ago.
On Saturday, he said his team played football that "had absolutely no purpose." Was that an admission of failure?
From his time as coach in Mainz, Klopp knows a thing or two about trying times. But for most of his players, hitting a low point like this is new. They're used to the success of the last few years.
Now, the lofty goals set at the beginning of the season seem miles away. Dortmund are 13 points adrift of Bayern Munich, meaning they can scratch 'win the Bundesliga' off this season's to-do list. More troubling, however, is that the lucrative Champions League spots in the table are also fading into the distance. If they miss out on qualifying for the Champions League next season, the club will be out a serious chunk of change, and the gulf between Dortmund and their southern rivals will grow even further. Bayern wouldn't mind that at all, but it would be a negative development for the Bundesliga.
Don't blame Bayern
It would be easy to place all the blame on Bayern Munich: in Robert Lewandowski and Mario Götze, Bayern poached two of Dortmund's best players. And the Bavarians reportedly have also their eye on Dortmund star Marco Reus as well.
But it's not that simple. It's obvious the hole Lewandowski left behind has not been filled, casting doubt on Dortmund's scouting. Pricey new addition Ciro Immobile hasn't really found his footing in Dortmund, and Shinji Kagawa has yet to return to his former brilliance.
Bayern have a host of excellent players filling out a deep, deep roster. Dortmund, on the other hand, seem to have watered down their bench.
But Dortmund's weakness is only down to the team's many injury woes. Other problems include a lack of concentration, botched tactics and individual mistakes. The head office is happy to blame a match calendar they say is too full (especially on the heels of the World Cup). It's hard, Dortmund's bosses say, with national team matches and mid-week league games to find a groove and get enough rest.
But Dortmund's opponents have the same problems, and three players – Marco Reus, Ilkay Gündogan, and Henrich Mkhitarjan – were back off injured reserve against Cologne over the weekend.
Even though the current standings in the table put Dortmund close to the drop zone, Dortmund won't be relegated any time soon. The strong performances in the Champions League show the team's huge potential.
Now it's Klopp's job to bring the motivation, diligence and concentration displayed on the grand European stage to the day-to-day arena of the Bundesliga. That's going to take patience and the support of the club. Klopp may be in the midst of his most challenging phase as Dortmund's head coach.