Great friends: Klopp and Wagner / Image via dailymail.co.uk
Jurgen Klopp Finds His Match
Comparisons between two great friends Jurgen Klopp and David Wagner are inevitable and completely natural since Liverpool and Huddersfield Town bosses, respectively, share a great history together.
The two Germans first met as players at Mainz and the pair have known each other for long 25 years.
Klopp and Wagner worked together in Dortmund where Huddersfield Town boss worked as a coach of BVB’s reserve side and where their bond was strengthened beyond the breaking point.
Their relationship has long exceeded frames of friendship, however, as these two brotherly figures are preparing to go head to head in the Premiership. The two pals are reunited once again, albeit in different clubs but on a same scene.
Entertainer
Similarities between the two managers are something not even Wagner himself cares to hide. And why would he?
“Jurgen and I share the same philosophy. The style of game we love is exactly the same. We love the speed and passion; the full throttle way. There are some parts like game pressing and transition game that is similar.”, Wagner said.
The entertainment factor is there despite the laboured Championship playoff semi-final and final displays. Those who have doubts that Terries will entertain the demanding Premiership crowd haven’t been properly introduced to either of the two German geniuses.
Jurgen Klopp’s character, charisma and managerial qualities might have been already presented to a broad Premier League audience over his almost two-year spell in charge of Liverpool, while Huddersfield Town boss has announced himself in style by beating the odds stacked firmly against the Terries to earn a place in the top tier of English football.
Ian Holloway was hardly the only one to criticise David Wenger and to cast a shadow of doubt over his managerial ability upon his Championship arrival however. Queens Park Rangers manager allowed ignorance to get the better of him in an example that epitomises the English self-centred nature perfectly.
The fact you are not familiar with something, does not necessarily mean that thing is not good.
The Terries and David Wagner himself ultimately sent a strong message to all of the doubters who struggled to understand Wanger’s unorthodox methods, which had Jurgen Klopp’s signatures all over them.
One of the first in line was the famous trip to Sweden.
Innovator
Having kept Terries in the division last year, Wagner used the summer to bring in no less than 13 players from all over the continent, some of which were loaned players who were never given the right opportunity with their parent clubs.
David Wagner used the summer to boost fitness and instill a unique team spirit for which he was initially laughed at when he decided to take the entire team on a bonding trip to Sweden.
Packed with only basic survival kit, Huddersfield Town players were left to survive for a few days and, most importantly, to forge the unbreakable bond between them – the kind of bond that helped them achieve great success this season.
Wagner’s methods paid dividends as the squad’s tight bond was largely accredited to the Premier League finished achieved on Monday after a nail-biting playoff final win over Reading.
A dream ending to the 2016/17 season saw Huddersfield earn £170 million and get in line for a possible cheque on £290 million if the Terries manage to survive first season back in the Premiership since 1972.
The odds are once again against them as Huddersfield Town stands at 4/7 price to be relegated next summer, but David Wagner is determined to prove that the Terries Premier League promotion is a vision, rather than a dream.
Visionary, Not A Dreamer
“I’m not a dreamer but I have visions, and the difference between a dream and a vision is, in a dream, you dream and you wake up and you didn’t really know what happened.”, said Huddersfield manager ahead of his team’s Championship playoff semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday.
Semantics aside, David Wagner used his vision to take Huddersfield Town players and supporters to a dreamland.
It is almost inconceivable that a club who has never spent more than £2 million on a player in their history will be playing Premier League football next season, but this is where the entire beauty of it lies.
The likes of Leicester City and Huddersfield Town keep breaking the patterns and brackets corporate world keeps pushing our beloved game into, renewing our hope and belief that a romantic’s football dream is not a thing of the past.
That it can and will survive.
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