The 48-year-old had a difficult final season with BVB and his high-intensity style is hard to create and even harder to maintain - but is his spark and energy all that's needed?

COMMENT By Ewan Roberts By

The Jurgen Klopp effect is already kicking in. The toothy, floppy-haired German has not even agreed to move to Liverpool yet but already there is a buzz of anticipation around a club that is daring to dream again. This is what he does, enthusing and energising clubs from the bottom up, a defibrillator in human form carved out of enamel and hair follicles. In amongst the euphoria, though, is an almost completely ignored note of caution. Does Klopp still possess his old magic?Little under a year ago, Borussia Dortmund entered the winter break second from bottom of the Bundesliga, denied the ignominy of propping up the table only by virtue of their goal difference. Across the last three seasons under Klopp, they have accumulated 77 fewer points than champions Bayern Munich. At a point when Brendan Rodgers has been axed for losing pace with the Premier League leaders, Liverpool’s owners have turned to a manager who has endured much the same trajectory.The first image conjured when thinking about Klopp and his Dortmund side is a rather romantic one; a swarm of yellow and black shirts, a team constantly pressing, constantly in transition, constantly entertaining – especially en route to back-to-back titles and in stark contrast to the sideways, prosaic football Louis van Gaal was preaching at the Allianz Arena at the time, and which is now boring visitors to Old Trafford. But that was not the case last year, when the manager’s style began to feel just a little bit dated and tired.Opposition teams started to work out how to read Dortmund’s pressing triggers, and how to stop their attack – they sat deeper, backed off, denied space and countered themselves – and Klopp increasingly asked his side to go more direct in reaction to the stubborn defences his side were trying, and failing, to break down. They attempted more long balls last season than in any other campaign under the 48-year-old, their 74 long balls per game a 9.7 per cent increase on their previous average.That was, in fact, one of the first things successor Thomas Tuchel addressed after taking over, advocating a slightly less breathless style and shorter passing game; BVB now average 53 long balls per game, the lowest in the Bundesliga – lower even than Bayern – and 28% down on Klopp’s final year in charge.Dortmund’s frustrations against sides prepared to sit deep will have a certain resonance with a Liverpool outfit who have come unstuck in similar circumstances, and Klopp’s lack of a solution is a little worrying. Last season, for example, the four games in which BVB had most possession (ranging from 67% to 71% - or “football death” territory, as Rodgers once dubbed it) they won none, scored once, created just two big chances (as defined by Opta) and lost twice.The identity with which they are so closely associated began to erode too; they made far fewer defensive actions in the opposition’s half and scored just six counter-attack goals, significantly down on division leaders Bayer Leverkusen, whose high-pressing, fast-acting version of gegenpressing under Roger Schmidt feels much more akin to the BVB of old, even ramping up the work rate and pedal-to-the-metal tempo.Ultimately, Klopp’s final season felt very much like the end of a cycle and the expectation is still that, having recharged his batteries and with a new, mouldable and enthusiastic squad at his disposal, he should be able to tap back into the style of play that won so many fans and took Dortmund to the Champions League final. Yet there are huge question marks over how sustainable that style is, and Klopp himself has underlined the need to constantly refresh the squad.Quite aside from how much say he’ll have in such reshuffles while the much-maligned transfer committee remains in place at Liverpool – at Dortmund he replaced Shinji Kagawa with Marco Reus, while Rodgers was given Rickie Lambert to fill Luis Suarez’s enormous void – the fear is that a side cannot be asked to run through brick walls every week without breaking down. If you deal exclusively in kampfen - in “fighting football” - eventually you’ll be left black and blue – especially when setbacks are addressed by asking the side to work even harder, to become “angry hunters”.Perhaps unsurprisingly, no side in the Bundesliga suffered more injuries than BVB last season, picking up twice as many muscle problems, and missing twice as many days, as fellow press-masters Leverkusen (who can count on former Dortmund fitness coach Oliver Bartlett). Yet even Schmidt’s side could not maintain their electric standards into the second half of last season, their tempo and drive noticeably dipping as fatigue grew, and, in England, Klopp will be faced with even more obstacles: four extra games in the league, an additional cup competition, and no winter break.Another issue, less immediately problematic for Liverpool, is how unsustainable it is in the long-term to carry a team on the force of personality alone. There is only so long a manager can continue to galvanise and lift others, only so long that passion can fuel a side. “You need change to make the next step in the team’s development,” Klopp told the Guardian. “If I say go left, they would say: ‘You’ve told us that 200 times – we don’t want to hear your voice anymore.’”The passion-soaked, rabble-rousing speeches that could have been lifted out of 'Henry V' start to lose their impact, the tried and tested words of inspiration become a little stale – especially if Klopp’s own doubts over his command of English prove accurate. Liverpool know this problem well; Rodgers read out letters from players’ mothers before kick-off during their run at the title, striking a chord with the squad, but such David Brent-like motivational techniques became corny, desperate even, over time.Not dissimilarly to how Jose Mourinho creates a sense of paranoia and constructs a siege mentality, Klopp has always enforced the idea of his side as the underdog bidding to write themselves into folklore, something that captivated a squad filled with Dortmund fans who once cheered on their beloved Schwarzgelben from the stands. But after a while, a champion becomes embarrassed by playing the victim, while David wants to become Goliath, and so Dortmund’s favourite sons have routinely switched allegiance to Bayern.No amount of bear-hugs and fatherly advice could keep his best players from departing, Kagawa to Manchester United, Nuri Sahin to Real Madrid, and Mario Gotze and Robert Lewandoswki to Bayern. He is not going to arrive at Anfield and immediately subvert the narrative that Liverpool always have to sell their best players, or even that they can thrive without them. After all, Dortmund fell apart without the Polish striker last season, much as Rodgers was left flailing without Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.Right now, though, Liverpool don’t have to worry too much about if or how it could unravel over time. Klopp’s methods may fade, but right now the Reds are crying out for someone to galvanize and invigorate them, and he’ll do exactly that – and with third and fourth spot so attainable this year, his ability to light the fuse and send a bolt of lightning right to the soul of a club can kick-start their season. Change may be as good for Klopp as it was for the side he left behind, and his powers of motivation and inspiration will have the Reds hitting their peak fast - but if he wants to hang around for a while, he'll need to ensure he can go one better than Rodgers did.