Should Liverpool Sweat Over Jurgen Klopp’s Commitment, Long-Term?
It remains to be seen if Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool's charismatic German manager, will see out the remainder of his long-term commitment to the club. | Source: AFP/Oli Scarff
- Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp recently signed a new contract with the club extending his stay until 2024.
- He’s currently on-track to steer Liverpool to their first Premier League title in almost 30 years.
- Ex-Liverpool player Jason McAteer wouldn’t be surprised to see the German walk away before his new contract ends.
Things seem rosy round Anfield way these days. Liverpool is on-course to secure their first league title in 30 years, and their enigmatic German manager Jurgen Klopp has just signed a new contract. Now he’s set to keep the good times coming until 2024.
Or is he?
Is Jurgen Klopp in danger of burning out?
Former Liverpool player Jason McAteer recently highlighted the stress that Klopp is under, and he believes there’s a good chance he’ll walk before the end of his deal.
It wouldn’t surprise me. It wouldn’t surprise me at all. I just think there’s burnout.
Since Jurgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool just over four years ago, he’s quickly become the star attraction at the club.
McAteer, who has a better idea of what goes on behind the scenes at Liverpool than most believes Klopp has a schedule that eclipses most other Premier League managers.
He can’t move. He can’t go out the hotel, he’s meeting potential partners, he’s going for dinners. They’re putting things on, it’s constant. The partnership side of the club when they come in and they want something, they want to get their name out there, who do they put on the front?
Klopp signed a new deal at Dortmund yet failed to see it through
It’s not as though Klopp doesn’t have previous for this kind of thing. At the end of October 2013, he signed a new deal with former club Borussia Dortmund , which would keep him at the club until the summer of 2018. His comments at the time are probably familiar to Liverpool fans today.
It’s an honour that some big clubs rate my work at Dortmund, but I’m not the type of person who wonders whether the grass is greener elsewhere. I will tell interested teams the same that I would have told them before: ‘It’s flattering if there’s interest, but I have a contract with Dortmund until 2018 and I tend to fulfil contracts, even if that’s surprising to some people.
In April 2015, a year and a half into his new five-year deal, he announced he would be leaving at the end of the season.
Things are going well at Liverpool currently, so I wouldn’t think he’ll be going any time soon. Still, he signed his extension with Dortmund off the back of a relatively successful season that saw Dortmund finish as Champions League finalists and second in the Bundesliga.
Within a few seasons, the wheels had begun to come off. Dortmund finished 7th in the league the season Klopp announced he was leaving, and they exited the Champions League at the Round of 16 stage.
This isn’t a criticism of Jurgen Klopp. He’s a very passionate manager and throws everything he has into his job. However, that could be the problem. How much can one man continue to give at such a level before it begins to affect him negatively?
Maybe McAteer has a point. Time will tell.
