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Very few managers are renowned for their incredible talent to turn promising players into superstars on a regular basis and among the managers active right now, Jurgen Klopp is definitely somewhere near the top of that list.
The charismatic German has an everlasting legacy at Borussia Dortmund. He inherited a side that finished 13th in the league in 2007/08 and in only his third season with the club, he turned them into league winners.
Klopp’s mission to revive Dortmund was not aided by rich owners. Instead, it was down to meticulous planning and scouting. Today, players like Robert Lewandowski or Mats Hummels are household names among football fans and Jurgen Klopp’s role in that is huge.
Even at Liverpool, Klopp’s methods have helped many players improve their game and it is reflecting on the team as a whole.
Klopp has had the pleasure of training and working with many top players and here are the top 10 players to have worked under him.
#10. Roberto Firmino
When Jurgen Klopp became Liverpool manager, it took him a while to realise how to use the players at his disposal effectively and during his search to find the ideal lineup, he played Roberto Firmino up front.
Firmino doesn’t operate as a traditional number 9 who scores a lot of goals, instead, he plays more like a false 9 who drops deep to receive the ball, draws defenders out of position and creates space for the wingers and midfielders.
The Brazilian’s is key to implementing Klopp’s pressing style which sees his team try to win the ball back high up the pitch once they lose possession.
He has already played over 100 games in a Liverpool kit scoring 27 times and assisting 20 more. Although his numbers may not impress many, his importance to Liverpool’s attacking style is huge.
Since the start of last season, he has created 85 chances in 41 Premier League games. To put things into perspective, Premier League’s top strikers like Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane and Romelu Lukaku have created at least 30 chances fewer than Firmino in the same period.
#9. Nuri Sahin
Since we are talking about the best players to have played under Jurgen Klopp, the list cannot be complete without Nuri Sahin.
Sahin, a product of Dortmund’s youth system, was instrumental in securing Dortmund’s first league title under Klopp in 2010/11. He played 30 games scoring 6 times and assisting a further eight from central midfield and his terrific performance was rewarded by being named the Bundesliga Player of Year 2010/11.
The following season he moved to Real Madrid, struggled with injuries before returning to Borussia Dortmund in January 2013. He has been with the club since but has not been able to replicate the form that once made him indispensable.
Since the start of the 2014/15 season, he has only played 35 games for Dortmund and scored just thrice.
#8. Shinji Kagawa
Shinji Kagawa is another player who has suffered a similar fate as Sahin. The Japanese international was once key to Dortmund’s success before leaving the club for what then looked like greener pastures.
Kagawa won two titles with Dortmund during his stay there. In the 2010/11 season, despite missing half the season due to an injury, he scored eight times and assisted another in 18 league games.
The following season, he scored 13 and assisted 8 in 32 league games as Dortmund were crowned champions again.
He moved to Manchester United that summer but his dream move didn’t work out well despite winning a league title in his first season. Eventually, he returned to Dortmund in 2014 and has been with the club since although he is not a regular starter like he used to be.
#7. Ilkay Gundogan
One ability Klopp displayed during his time with Dortmund was how easily he could replace his outgoing stars. So when Sahin left for Real Madrid in 2011, Klopp needed a new player to take up the responsibility in midfield and in came Ilkay Gundogan from FC Nurnberg.
Gundogan fit into Klopp’s plan and system seamlessly and soon became a wanted player just like many Dortmund stars over the years.
He helped Dortmund lift the league title in his debut season and also helped them reach the UEFA Champions League final in 2013 where he scored from the spot despite ending on the losing side.
His third season with the club was a disaster though as he sat out the entire season owing to a back problem. He returned to action soon and spent two further seasons with the club before joining Manchester City in 2016.
Gundogan got off to a flying start at Man City but injuries have hampered him there also.
#6. Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane was an inspired signing for Liverpool and hands down the best player Liverpool have signed from Southampton in recent years. The Senegalese international added a new dimension to Liverpool’s attack with his pace and dribbling.
Klopp claimed that he was an admirer of Mane since his time playing for Red Bull Salzburg and he eventually got his target at Liverpool.
Mane played 27 league games for Liverpool last season scoring 13 times and assisting five more. His importance and influence in the side were clear during his absence due to AFCON first and an injury later.
Despite missing more than a quarter of the season, he was still named Liverpool’s Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Year for 2016/17 and also included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for the same season.
Mane continues to improve constantly under Klopp and he started the current season brightly with three goals in the first three league games to be named the Premier League Player of the month for August 2017.
#5. Mario Gotze
Mario Gotze is another Borussia Dortmund player who left the club only to return a few years later after a failed transfer. However, like Sahin and Kagawa before him. Gotze’s time away from Dortmund was highly successful.
Gotze was one of Klopp’s favourites and the Dortmund academy graduate was given the chance to shine in the first team when he was a teenager.
He played 116 games for Dortmund in his first spell scoring 31 times and winning two league titles. His performance often defied his age and he won the Golden Boy award in 2011 given to the best U-21 player in Europe.
The fleet-footed midfielder was key to Dortmund’s success but in 2013, before the second leg of Dortmund’s Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, it was announced that he would move to rivals Bayern.
He played 114 games for Bayern scoring 36 times but struggled to replicate the form that made him a star at Dortmund. In 2016, he returned to Dortmund only to find that he had myopathy, a metabolic disease which can cause fatigue and weight gain.
This explains the dip in form and his struggle to maintain fitness while at Bayern Munich.
#4. Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho was key to Liverpool even before Jurgen Klopp’s arrival but under the charismatic German manager, the Brazilian has improved massively.
Due to the lack of attacking options at Liverpool, Klopp used Coutinho down the left wing in his first two seasons and Coutinho scored 25 goals and provided 14 assists. During this period, the former Inter Milan man proved to be a big game player with goals against the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Borussia Dortmund.
This season, Liverpool fought a long battle to keep hold of their talisman despite interest from Barcelona.
Klopp plans to utilise Coutinho in a central midfield role this season and that could see him release the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane. He has already scored twice and assisted once this season although he is yet to get back to his best form.
#3. Marco Reus
Marco Reus was part of Dortmund’s academy but he moved to the lower leagues of Germany to develop his game in 2006. He steadily improved as a player but a lot of credit for his rise to stardom goes to his former manager at Borussia Monchengladbach, Lucien Favre.
The German international had the chance to return to his boyhood club in 2012 after turning down an offer from Bayern Munich and has been with them since.
In his debut season, Reus helped Dortmund reach the final of the Champions League and ended the season with 18 goals and 11 assists.
When fit, Reus is one of the best players on the planet but injuries have stopped him from reaching his best level constantly. Nevertheless, he has scored 89 times for Dortmund in 189 games.
#2. Mats Hummels
Mats Hummels is a product of Bayern Munich’s academy who joined the club in 1995 before leaving on loan to Borussia Dortmund in January 2008.
Hummels opted to join Dortmund to get regular playing time and hence made his move to Dortmund permanent in February 2009.
The German international was a crucial member of Jurgen Klopp’s side that won back to back league titles and also made a reputation as one of the best ball playing defenders in the game.
He went on to play 309 games for Dortmund before returning to Bayern Munich.
Jurgen Klopp must be wishing that he had a defender like Mats Hummels at his disposal at Liverpool considering the team’s defensive woes.
#1. Robert Lewandowski
There is no reason to be surprised about who occupies the number one spot in this list.
Robert Lewandowski is Jurgen Klopp’s crown jewel. The German has helped improve the game of many players but no player has benefitted playing under Klopp more than the Pole.
Lewandowski was signed by Klopp from Polish club Lech Poznan after the player had a famously failed move to Blackburn Rovers.
His first season in Germany saw him play second fiddle to Lucas Barrios and scored just 9 times in 43 games across all competitions. However, in his second season, he scored 30 times in 47 games as Bayern lifted the Bundesliga and DFB Pokal.
Lewandowski went on to score 103 goals in 187 games for Dortmund before joining rivals Bayern Munich on a free transfer in 2014.
At Bayern, he has carried the same goalscoring form and has found the back of the net 121 times in 157 games!
