Talking About Jürgen Klopp and Real Madrid

Jürgen Klopp can be expected to continue working on his Liverpool project no matter Madrid’s reported interest.

So. Jürgen Klopp. Real Madrid. It’s a thing, maybe. According to Marca and The Independent. So it’s a thing. That’s out there. In the wilds. And much as we all might like to roll our eyes and ignore it, we probably can’t being a Liverpool site and all.

Should you, then, dear Liverpool fan, be worried or nervous or bothered or lose any sleep over this? In one word, no. That’s not meant to sell the allure of Madrid short, generally. They’re one of the world’s grandest clubs. Arguably its grandest, at least by silverware.

But they are also, as of today and likely the foreseeable future, something of a mess. To put it mildly. A smouldering trash fire of despair might be the more accurate assesment of their current situation. Plus they’re in a league in the midst of a downswing.

Their struggles—in La Liga and in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey—reflect a squad that needs a complete overhaul, that looks lost minus Cristiano Ronaldo. They would, put simply, have to be viewed as something of a project for any manager.

And they’re a club that don’t allow managers to undertake projects. Or that allow managers to have much of a say in how their squads are overhauled. The expectations are high, they are for instant success, and they are prone to the whims of Florentino Perez.

Klopp, meanwhile, is already in the midst of a project—and the last time he was in the midst of a project, at Borussia Dortmund, he resisted any and all attempts to pry him away from it prematurely. He is, to put not too fine a point on it, invested in something.

He’s invested in a squad whose construction he has overseen and a situation where he has been given a great deal of say in when and how and if things change and move forward. No matter if Liverpool win the league this season, his role guiding Liverpool is secure.

He’s also at a club that, from a larger ethos standpoint, aligns with his own. The same cannot be said of Madrid, a club that, were he not to deliver in year one, would sack him as they have sacked every manager who hasn’t had the sense to get out on top.

It’s not a move that makes sense for Klopp. Not right now, not given Madrid’s current state, and not given that he is currently in the midst of his own football project—a project he has been free to shape and to lead in a way he wouldn’t be at Real Madrid.

Plus if the whole going to Madrid right now wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Klopp or align with everything he’s said and done over his entire managerial career stuff isn’t enough, there’s all the club-connected journalists now rolling their eyes at the idea.

The Times’ Paul Joyce and Telegraph’s Chris Bascombe at least don’t think there’s anything to it, and there are few better connected to honestly report on the mood within Liverpool. Both think Klopp is committed to seeing out his current project.

Real Madrid are going to need a new manager. And they’re going to need a major rebuild. Jürgen Klopp is, of course, a manager they would be interested in were he available and interested. He won’t be joining them and they will have to look elsewhere.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com