Chelsea what ifs: Jurgen Klopp hired before Liverpool could get him

Chelsea missed their chance in 2015 to hire Jurgen Klopp. What if the Blues had acted faster in the hiring of the German?

In the 2015/2016 season, it was increasingly becoming a matter of when Jose Mourinho was sacked. Not if. The Premier League campaign had become a dumpster fire and Mourinho seemingly had no way out. Chelsea waited until December of that year to pull the rip cord. Guus Hiddink came in to draw out the season and Antonio Conte eventually succeeded the Chelsea legend.

But what if the Blues had acted faster that fall? Jurgen Klopp was available that October when Liverpool signed him. Had Chelsea sacked Mourinho before then and brought in Klopp, how would things be different now?

Chelsea has a bad reputation of not giving their managers enough time. It is an earned one, but one that has become a bit dated in hindsight. The “old” Blues never would have held on to Mourinho as long as the club did. The same likely goes for Antonio Conte in his second season and Maurizio Sarri through last winter. Chelsea has gained patience and Klopp would have surely gotten that 2015/2016 and 2016/2017 season to work with.

The 2015/2016 season likely would not have looked much different. With Klopp, Liverpool finished in eighth, only two places higher than Chelsea. Given how intense Klopp’s training methods are, the bedding in period likely would have taken just as long.

The Blues made plenty of moves in the 2016 summer for Conte that likely would have happened for Klopp too but it is hard to see the Blues winning the title without the Italian. The Italian’s tactics changed the game in the Premier League and Klopp’s gegenpressing likely would not have pulled the Blues over the line. Liverpool did finish fourth that season and a similar achievement by a Klopp Chelsea side would have been just enough to keep him a job. Just.

The same the following season would not have flown though. Klopp’s Liverpool got better on paper every season, but it was only these last two seasons that they became true juggernauts. Liverpool had waited so long to return to that status that they were more than willing to ride the wave with the German. Chelsea would have hopped off had he gotten another fourth place finish in his second full season at the club (nearly a third).

The youth would likely have benefited the most and maybe Chelsea’s transfer business would have changed greatly to accommodate the German tactician. But Chelsea would have needed a major overhaul to play in his image and even now, after changing tactics, the Blues are still only halfway there squad wise at best.

And what of Conte? Well he likely would have stuck with Italy through the World Cup if not longer. Italy probably actually does make the World Cup in that eventuality and then in 2018, roughly about the time Klopp would be pushed out of Stamford Bridge for another fourth placed finish, Chelsea give the Italian a call and things realign themselves to the actual reality fans experienced.

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