#360view: Klopp and Guardiola similar in their desire for change

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  • Ready for combat: Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.

    Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola are two of the more fashionable coaches in modern football, but there are distinct differences between them in playing styles and approach, at least on the surface.

    Klopp’s “heavy metal football”, a moniker he deeply regrets but still seems so fitting, is about playing fast and direct in transition. Seizing on an opponent’s weakness when they are at their most vulnerable and punishing them for it.

    Guardiola too is also about targeting weak points but his approach is more of a methodical, all-encompassing gameplan with the focus on possession. Klopp gets from Point A to B as quickly as is possible; Guardiola takes the scenic route.

    Klopp is a personable individual leaving a warm glow on those in his company, who seems to be forever smiling and when facing the media defaults to delivering wise-cracks, almost as a defence mechanism.

    Guardiola on the other hand can often appear cold and calculating, exuding an academic approach and whose ‘jokes’ are dry. Although he’s never that forthcoming in press conferences when it comes to discussing or explaining tactics, the famous Johan Cruyff quote: “If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better”, would no doubt elicit a wry smile from the Catalan.

    Klopp is in on the pitch with his players, clad in a more traditional coach’s attire of tracksuit and benchcoat; Guardiola the more sartorially aware with designer jumpers, suits… albeit paired, somewhat questionably, with a pair of box-fresh Converse.

    But for all their differences, each owes a debt of gratitude to the other for how they’ve shaped their thinking and helped develop over the decade. The fast-paced counter-attacks of Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund, which shook the Bundesliga from 2010-2012, were in direct contrast to Guardiola’s Barcelona, who had become almost a parody of themselves with monotonous but devilishly effective possession football.

    But, at the same time, Klopp mirrored elements of Guardiola with such a focus on pressing from his attacking players. It was at a more ferocious rate, perhaps, but just like Lionel Messi, David Villa and Pedro were required to force defenders into mistakes, so too were Robert Lewandowski and Shinji Kagawa.

    Although Bayern had wrestled control back in Germany by the time of Guardiola’s arrival in 2013, his pass-heavy ways had begun to look predictable and a little stale. He needed to adapt.

    A 4-2 defeat to Klopp’s Dortmund in the German Super Cup – his first game in charge – helped highlight this and the correction was made three months later in a league meeting, when Guardiola adopted a more direct fast-passing style, harnessing the natural wing play of Arjen Robben, which left Dortmund’s attacking press obselete and the Bavarians won 3-0.

    Two more games between the two finished a win apiece but by the second season of their rivalry it was clear Guardiola had worked Dortmund out – although signing Lewandowski helped – as the Bavarians won both league meetings.

    Klopp’s gegenpress had run out of steam, so too his patience with Bayern’s immense financial dominance but, at the same time, he had been unable to significantly evolve his approach in order to counter the very changes Guardiola was making. That being said, Dortmund were one of the few sides able to give Bayern a bloody nose during Guardiola’s time in Germany.

    Fast-paced, relentlessly-attacking teams, who don’t hold onto the ball for long, remain Guardiola’s kryptonite. But as we approach the ninth meeting between the two – 4-4 in terms of results but Guardiola perhaps leading the judge’s scorecards – it is the German who has been able to sufficiently adapt to English football as Guardiola still makes his necessary changes.

    Time, of course, dictates such, as do transfer windows, but Klopp’s more authentically English methods have unsurprisingly found more of a home in the Premier League. The directness of his Dortmund days remain but this Liverpool team are also more intricate in their approach; they lead the Premier Legaue in terms of passes per game and are second only to City in average possession.

    Klopp, if anything, has brought a little of what Guardiola showed in Germany with him to England. The Catalan on the other hand is finding out his own widespread alterations at the Etihad must be gradual.

    When City have been bad, they’ve been appalling and look a side not so much in transition but in the aftermath of a revolution – their defence in ruins as the possession flag is raised high.

    As Klopp reacted to Guardiola and then Pep followed suit to soften the impact of “heavy metal football”, Saturday night’s meeting will give some insight into which coach could be on-trend for 2017.

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