Back in 2015, a Liverpool side sliding down the table at a rate of knots made a decision that would change the entire direction of this proud old club. Brendan Rodgers out, Jurgen Klopp in.
Four years later, the Merseyside giants were celebrating their sixth European title. 12 months after that, Klopp was holding the Premier League trophy aloft as the fireworks fizzed in the Anfield air.
How Tottenham, a club lacking direction, leadership and charismatic visionary capable of getting the best out of a talented yet underperforming bunch, could do with a Jurgen Klopp of their own.
But maybe they’ve just found him.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Simone Inzaghi is the latest name in the frame to replace Jose Mourinho at Spurs.
Now, Inzaghi the player might have been overshadowed by his superstar brother, despite enjoying a more than respectable career in Serie A. But, when it comes to life in the dugout, Simone certainly has the edge over Pippo. In fact, he has the edge over most coaches in Italy.
In his three seasons in charge, Lazio have finished fifth, eighth and fourth, dragging the Rome-based giants into the Champions League for the first time in over a decade, lifting the 2019 Coppa Italia while playing some of the most thrilling attacking football in Europe.
Inzaghi even managed to do something Klopp could not. He got the very best out of the mercurial Ciro Immobile.
“Inzaghi is certainly the coach I got along best with,” says Immobile, the one-time Dortmund flop who plundered 39 goals for Inzaghi’s Lazio last season (Football Italia).
“Klopp is a great expert in football and I always said that I’d have liked to work with him when I was in my best form. He is a complete coach, he has everything.
“Having said that, he really reminds me of Simone Inzaghi, as they are very similar in their motivational skills, albeit in slightly different ways.”
Inzaghi is no managerial A-lister, a la Jose Mourinho. He is no up-and-coming coaching wunderkind, like Julian Nagelsmann.
But it’s about time this most underappreciated of tacticians got the credit he deserved. Swapping Lazio for Tottenham could finally see Inzaghi take his place in the mainstream.
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