Is the Arsene Wenger problem currently plaguing Borussia Dortmund's Jurgen Klopp?

Is Jurgen Klopp, like Arsene Wenger, facing problems because he has just stayed too long?

Thierry Henry said last week,“I think that we will appreciate his true value when he leaves the club, it is always like that.” While the sentiment is appreciable, it is not a good thing to be celebrated only after you leave. The best managers are ones who are celebrated my the fans while they manage the team, because fans, at the end of the day, are appreciative of trophies and not just Champions League qualification.

Arsene Wenger is currently handling Arsenal in such a manner that the team reaches a new low every year. Consider the current campaign where Arsenal have made the worst start to the league in 32 years.

But the fact of the matter is that Cazorla is no Fabregas, Giroud is no Van Persie and Arteta and Flamini are just not in the same league as Yaya Toure or Matic. Viera never got replaced either. But no one seems to be questioning the mediocrity of the Arsenal midfield. Ramsey, Wilshire and Chamberlain are all great talents but none of them is a perfect central defensive midfielder.

Sir Alex left a United team that had similar cracks plastered over and the moment he left, the team fell apart. Arsenal risk the same problem. Yes, if Wenger leaves he will be missed because the new manager will need a lot of time to fix a broken squad.

One cannot expect a new manager taking over a club that is used to one style of play for years, to suddenly allow a different style of play to be enforced and continue the success immediately, all the while working with a broken squad.

Short-term managers and long-term managers

Let me now come to Jurgen Klopp, who caught the world’s attention with his high pressing style that brought him so much success in a league that was so rigidly dominated by the cash-rich Bayern Munich. Everybody loved him and his team – because who doesn’t love a David’s victory over Goliath.

Over the past few recent years of success, Dortmund lost key players including Lewandowski and Gotze to Bayern, Nuri Sahin to Madrid and Kagawa to United. The problem with clubs like Sir Alex’s Manchester United, Wenger’s Arsenal and Klopp’s Dortmund is this – since they have achieved success in the past without spending money they are not given any monetary liberties at later stages of their careers either.

Even when they are given funds they do not seem to be at ease spending it all. Carlo Ancelloti, on the other hand, doesn’t care if he has to spend 80 million Euros on James Rodriguez when he already has Roanldo, Bale, Benzema and Isco; Luis Enrique doesnt care that he has to spend 75 million Pounds on Suarez when he already has Messi and Neymar, Luis Van Gaal gets Falcao in a atrocious deal when United already boast an attack of Rooney, Van Persie and Welbeck.

These new managers who genereally work short-term are given funds to fix and replace whatever they please so as to instil their style of play. This luxury is not afforded to managers who stay at one club for long periods of time.

Unworthy replacements brought in for world-class talents

Dortmund and in particular Jurgen Klopp has failed to replace the talent that has left Signal Iduna Park. Henrik Mkhitariyan, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Ciro Immobile are all decent players but they are not on par with Lewandowski or Gotze.

Wenger has taken the same path in the past with players such as Marouane Chamakh, Gervinho and in all probability Giroud. Gervinho is a perfect example of why clubs with expectations of trophies can not purchase talent that is anything but world class at the very moment of the transfer.

For clubs that are constantly in search for trophies, with fans dissatisfied with anything short of a league title, managers with long-term plans are no longer the way to go.

“Die a hero or live to be a villain”

In fact in the last 5 years if you look at the managers who have won the Champions League then Pep Guardiola is the only man to have stayed over 2 years at the club at the time of winning the famed trophy. Roberto Di Matteo and Carlo Ancelloti did it in less than 12 months.

The current state of football no longer warrants the managers of the old breed that remained loyal to one club and gained considerable success. Yes, Arsene Wenger is a master tactician, and so is Jurgen Klopp; but the latest trend in football requires that they take their talents to a different place where they can rebuild their ideology and gain success.

The fate of Wenger and Klopp reminds me of the famous quote from The Dark Knight movie, “ You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Whether Jurgen Klopp follows the current trend and tries to redeem his falling reputation in another club; maybe Arsenal for that matter, is totally upto him. But if he decides to see out his entire deal with Dortmund, he faces the risk of going down the same path of above-average mediocrity that has become synonymous with the name of Arsene Wenger.Wenger.