adminLONDON. — With Jurgen Klopp’s arrival at Liverpool, the English Premier League has acquired another larger-than-life personality to add to the A-list cast of characters who occupy the dug-outs at England’s elite soccer clubs.
Be it mid-season sackings, touchline spats between Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger or Press conference outbursts from Louis van Gaal, the story of English football is one told through the prism of the country’s managers.
It is a tradition that encompasses figures like Matt Busby, Bill Shankly, Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson, and the huge interest sparked by Klopp’s appointment shows that it is not likely to diminish anytime soon.
“It’s been a consistent factor for decades,” British sportswriter Michael Calvin, whose book on football managers, “Living on the Volcano”, was released in August, said.
“People are always fascinated by the imposition of power and the use of authority, but what lurks in the background always is the fan’s thought, ‘If I had the chance, I could do just as well.’
“And it sells. You look at the Premier League TV product and it’s a global league that happens to be played in England, with storylines which are soap operatic in nature. It’s a simple concept for people to understand.” — AFP.
Online Reporter