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Liverpool might have to shake hands with the enemy until perfect new manager is available
When Liverpool were last in the market for a new manager back in 2015, they were 10th in the Premier League table.
They hadn’t won the title for 25 years, they had competed in the Champions League just once since 2009 - having last been crowned champions of Europe in 2005 - and had won just one domestic cup since 2006.
Yet that underwhelming modern record did not hinder them when it came to choosing a successor to the sacked Brendan Rodgers. In Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti, they were left pursuing the two most sought-after managers around.
READ MORE: Jose Mourinho sent clear Liverpool message as Virgil van Dijk anticipates move
Now, nearly a decade on as Klopp prepares to depart, Liverpool have never been in a stronger position at a time when attracting a new manager in the Premier League era. Premier League champions in 2020, they have been genuine title-contenders four times in the past six years and only failed to qualify for the Champions League once since 2017.
They won the Champions League most recently in 2019, and have reached two other finals in the past six years, while they have also been crowned champions of the world for the first time. Lifting five other trophies, they have been left trophyless just once since 2018.
Boasting a squad with a revamped midfield and attack, ‘Liverpool 2.0’ is only at the start of its journey. Klopp’s successor will be picking up the baton of a young side that should only get better and better in the years ahead.
“I think you have to leave the club in a better state than it was when you arrived,” Klopp has said on more than one occasion over the years. On that score, he has certainly delivered. Yet in turn, that has seemingly made the Reds’ managerial search all the harder with it becoming abundantly clear how daunting a prospect it is to succeed Klopp at Anfield. The ‘impossible job,’ is it one ‘no-one’ wants as a result?
Former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso had been the previous front-runner, having overseen a remarkable transformation of Bayer Leverkusen, only to decide to stay put at the German outfit. The 42-year-old would then guide them to their first ever Bundesliga title a few weeks later in his first full season at the club, and, while navigating a so-far unbeaten campaign, is now pursuing a treble with their DFB-Pokal and Europa League hopes still alive.
After the Spaniard, Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim was seemingly the next in line. However, The Athletic reported on Monday that the Portuguese now looked unlikely to be the preferred candidate for the job with West Ham United being linked with his signature.
For the record, Liverpool remain insistent no preferred candidate has been identified as they continue to undertake extensive research and due diligence around a number of viable names.
Should Amorim indeed be left unlikely to take over, it does beg the question where on earth will the Reds look next? The latest development does reiterate the fact that, unlike nine years ago, there are no standout candidates to succeed Klopp.
After all, if you asked any supporter who they wanted to be Liverpool manager next season, the dream choice would remain their beloved, departing German.
Alonso was accepted as a favoured would-be successor partly due to his already-established allegiances with the club, with Amorim then embraced by a speculating fanbase as the best of the rest - albeit one who still carried an air of mystery about him.
But with both still very early in their managerial careers, neither ticked every box. The potential in the pair is clear, but onlookers would be forgiven for conveniently overlooking any possible shortcoming. Admittedly, that will be the case in any speculated target, as supporters cling to the hope that whatever comes after Klopp can be better than what they are currently experiencing.
The ‘dream’ replacement would be a proven manager who has won major silverware, both domestically and in Europe, but one still early enough in his career to be starting a long-term project and be at Anfield for the long-haul. A person with the capabilities to create an almost-instant affinity with the supporters, who plays attractive, attacking football.
And one who has delivered in the transfer market in the past, has a reputation for embracing a flourishing youth academy, and is proven to make his existing players better.
The ‘dream’ appointment is essentially the 48-year-old Klopp who first took over at Anfield nine years ago. Can Liverpool really strike gold again? And that's where a certain old enemy comes in.
Jose Mourinho set tongues wagging after he was spotted watching the Reds’ victory at Fulham on Sunday, with the innocent reason being the Portuguese still owns a home in West London.
But that would not have stopped all the WhatsApp groups and social media accounts buzzing as onlookers cheekily hypothesised what the out-of-work manager’s attendance could - but almost certainly wouldn’t - mean.
You would not put it past Mourinho for his attendance at a time when he is not being linked with the top managerial jobs to have been very much deliberate. By attending a match involving an elite club in need of a new manager, he made himself the subject of a plethora of headlines.
At one point, Liverpool fans would have bitten your hands off to have Mourinho in the Anfield dugout. The 61-year-old has won three Premier League titles and two Champions Leagues after all, along with five other league titles in Portugal, Italy, and Spain, three other European trophies, and eight domestic cups.
Tottenham Hotspur are the only club not to have lifted silverware under his watch since he first burst onto the scene with FC Porto over two decades ago. Love him or hate him, Mourinho is a serial winner with the trophies continuing to flow even after a decline in reputation - which coincidentally coincided with Klopp’s own Premier League arrival.
Such his reputation, despite his Manchester United past, he is one of the few individuals who could claim Kopites would not hold that against him. Sure, they have regularly clashed with him over the years, dating back to the start of his first stint at Chelsea 20 years ago, but that doesn’t stop them respecting everything Mourinho has achieved.
He’d have the confidence to succeed Klopp, too. Klopp christened himself ‘The Normal One’ when taking over at Liverpool in 2015, in reference to Mourinho’s self-appointed ‘Special One’ nickname.
Filling such big shoes would clearly not faze him, while you would not worry that such a job would be too big for him either. Not many would-be candidates could claim the same.
Historically he often departs clubs under a cloud, but at this point you know exactly what to get from him. He might pick fights and create noise, but you can’t dispute, when repeatedly getting fans and his players onside, he certainly is effective.
Too old and not a long-term fix are two accusations you can certainly throw Mourinho’s way. Desiring immediate success, he does not play the long game and has never reached the four-year mark in any of his 10 managerial roles in the past.
But if you hire him just expecting a short-term project, you don’t necessarily have anything to lose. Mourinho at Liverpool could blow up in their faces, or he could build on what Klopp has built and, as he has done throughout his career, win even more.
It would be a gamble, but so would any managerial appointment when it comes to replacing Klopp. Be it success or failure, Mourinho takes on the ‘impossible job’ and shatters the mystic ‘dream’ of what must come next. Then, either way, the baton gets passed on a few years down the line at a time when the ‘dream’ successors have emerged and are better-placed to step up.
The Reds shocked many by making such an appointment last summer when selecting their next sporting director, opting for Jorg Schmadtke on a short-term basis. After overseeing an £150m midfield overhaul, he left the club at the end of January following Klopp’s own exit announcement.
His appointment did not feel very Liverpool, but it was what they needed at the time in the absence of the right long-term hire. It will be intriguing to see if club bosses would be tempted to do similar when it comes to selecting the Reds’ next manager.
Mourinho would not be the ‘dream’ next Liverpool manager. But in the absence of a perfect successor, it would require a special character to replace Klopp in the dugout. Maybe, in these current set of circumstances, he is actually exactly what Anfield needs.
