DANKE Jürgen

It’s Friday morning let’s do a little throwback. This piece was written way back 2015. I was probably still in first year of senior high school. Enjoy

Last weekend, Borrusia Dortmund coach, Jürgen Klopp stepped down as manager of the club after seven years in charge. The enigmatic boss won two Bundesliga titles, a Deutsche Pokal and also sent the German outfit to the 2013 Champions League Final.

Noted for wearing his club tracksuit and cap, Klopp was always an animated figure on the touchline with his energy brushing off fans and players alike. Always a fan favourite, he started a period of dominance for Die Schwarzegelben and moulded stars such as 2014 World Cup hero, Mario Goetze, Dortmund stars Marco Reus and Shinji Kagawa and Polish striker Robert Lewandowski into world class players. He built a team that would push Bayern Munich and other Europe elite teams to the limit. Jürgen led Dortmund to the Champions League final in 2013 but luck wasn’t on their side. An extra time loss to rivals Bayern Munich failed to cap off a good season. In his own small way, Klopp made Dortmund a big team in Europe using limited resources to achieve this feat.

After a dismal start to the 2014/15 season, Klopp announced his plans to step down at the end of the season. This announcement rocked the world and the question asked was; ” What next for Dortmund?” The players gave their all and managed to secure a Europa League place, capping the season off with an emphatic 3-0 victory. Dortmund’s famous yellow wall (fans), gave Jürgen Klopp a well deserved farewell which reduced him to tears. Fans chanted his name throughout the game, with the staff and players giving him a guard of honour. The whole stadium came to pay tribute to the greatest ever Dortmund coach.

And now what next for Klopp? He ruled out claims of him planning to take over Liverpool and also made known his plans of taking a six month sabbatical from management before considering his next move. Dortmund fans will miss him on the touchline next season but at this point all they can say is “Danke Jürgen”, “Danke Jürgen Klopp”

(Klopp eventually took over at Liverpool later in 2015 and is in his fourth season. Dortmund have also undergone a rebuilding process and are currently top of the Bundesliga table, under Lucien Favre)