Jürgen Klopp’s move to Red Bull seems surprising, but it shouldn’t be
As Liverpool manager, Jürgen Klopp did not like long meetings. Instead of sitting around pondering the latest big decision, he regularly had important conversations in the training ground canteen while eating his lunch.
Klopp was anything but formal, yet Mike Gordon – the president of Liverpool’s owner Fenway Sports Group, a man who also operates with the kind of casual confidence you normally get from a dot-com entrepreneur – put the German on the same level as a corporate leader. According to Gordon, he was “someone you would choose to run your company,” as he told Raphael Honigstein in his book Bring the Noise.
Klopp’s new role as Red Bull’s Global Head of Soccer, which he starts early next year, potentially offers such overarching responsibility. As a statement from Red Bull explained, the day-to-day management of the five clubs it owns, sponsors or in which it has a minority interest will not concern him, but will assist sporting directors, scouting departments and coaches, thus ensuring Red Bull’s safety. philosophy” runs through each of its concerns.
The decision, which came suddenly – nine years and a day since his arrival at Liverpool – might at first glance be surprising given how exhausted Klopp looked when he left Anfield in May. At the time he said he had no energy left and needed total rest from football management.
Jurgen Klopp receives a guard of honor after his final match against Liverpool (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
He had left Borussia Dortmund at the end of the 2014/15 season on a similar message, before quickly ending up on Merseyside after a summer largely spent playing tennis.
Klopp finds it difficult to sit still for long periods of time, but his new job at Red Bull invites a slower and less stressful route back to the game he loves – and, in all likelihood, a precursor to the job at German national team he has long coveted, given that reports in the country suggesting there is a get-out clause in his contract.
Gordon’s comments about Klopp’s abilities were made in 2017 and in the years that followed, as Liverpool became increasingly successful, his power grew. This dismantled the support network that had also contributed to Liverpool’s rise. Klopp was not managing Liverpool as the key financial decisions were still made by Gordon. Yet he was the public face of a multinational and the football department became his. It explains why Liverpool now employs a head coach rather than a manager and the club’s sporting director makes strategic and personnel decisions. It would be good to hear from Klopp whether he thinks taking on too much has contributed to his burnout.
Maybe the Red Bull gig will give him the chance to understand a world he’s curious about. Last year there was talk that he would enroll in a sporting directorship course, something his representatives neither confirmed nor denied. Unlike Liverpool, he will be able to do his job without the pressure of preparing a team, matches and press conferences. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, he indicated that this treadmill was keeping him from learning as much as he would like. If he takes charge of Germany from now on, he will certainly better understand the responsibilities that come with different leadership positions.
Klopp is not the first former Liverpool manager to take up this particular title at Red Bull. In 2012, after Gerard Houllier had to retire due to deteriorating health, he met the company’s founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, who came to a meeting in Austria on a motorcycle wearing jeans.
How influential Houllier became depends on the impression of who you speak to. Although he would later claim that he played a leading role in the organisation’s attempt to bring Sadio Mane into the fold from Metz in 2012, those closer to the leadership suggest that his responsibilities were closer to those of an ambassador layers: showing up in different countries, shaking hands with partners, and occasionally whispering advice.
Will Klopp’s duties even be as all-encompassing as they may sound? He is certainly useful for Red Bull’s brand, which has needed a touch of legitimacy since it started investing in football in 2005.
Houllier had been away from Liverpool for eight years when his involvement began, with the Red Bull group having yet to produce a team talented enough to qualify for the Champions League group stages. Although the Leipzig club have since reached that round of the competition in seven of the past eight seasons, the story of a team rising from the regional divisions is not exactly met with encouragement in Germany, where the rules are coming to the fore. The preference for fan representation and significant outside investment are treated with suspicion.
Dortmund fans protest before a match against RB Leipzig in 2017 (TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images)
At Dortmund and Liverpool, Klopp tapped into the authenticity of each club’s following, occasionally commenting on the artificial elements of rivals and elsewhere. Had he been in charge of Dortmund in 2016 when they faced a newly promoted RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga for the first time, it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on the actions of the Dortmund supporters who boycotted the match in protest against their opponents. ‘ownership model.
“Dortmund makes money, but we do it to play football,” said Jan-Henrik Gruszecki, one of the organizers of the protest. The Guardian. “But Leipzig plays football to sell a product and a lifestyle. That’s the difference.”
Klopp may therefore have damaged his reputation by joining the soft drinks manufacturer – the antithesis of what he once represented. Perhaps, especially in Germany, this will be determined by how visible he is during his time at Red Bull.
Klopp is removed from day-to-day coaching at Red Bull (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Back in England, the company has a minority stake in Leeds United, having taken over the club’s shirt sponsor. “The ambition to bring Leeds United back to the Premier League and establish itself in the best football league in the world suits Red Bull very well,” Oliver Mintzlaff said in May. Mintzlaff, CEO of Red Bull’s corporate projects, was instrumental in Klopp’s appointment.
Klopp suggested on his departure from Liverpool in the same month that he would never manage another Premier League club again. But it’s not too difficult to imagine Leeds back in the top flight soon, and if that happens – and Red Bull provide technical support as expected – it will be fascinating to see where Klopp, if he remains in the position, fits in . Could he ultimately help, even in a small way, plan Liverpool’s demise on matchday?
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Immediately, many have chuckled at the suggestion that one of his first tasks could involve the sacking of Pep Lijnders, his former assistant at Liverpool, whose Red Bull Salzburg team were thrashed by Brest and Sturm Graz in successive games last week.
There is no plan to remove the Dutch coach, but Klopp will not officially start at Red Bull until January. Given how close they were to Liverpool, with Lijnders put in charge of training, it seems inconceivable that Klopp, if asked, would suggest making a change. Instead, Klopp’s arrival into the Red Bull stable certainly increases the chances of his survival.
For now, Klopp has been taken out of the rut of day-to-day management, with the role appearing to strike a nice balance between elite involvement through a new challenge, but without the pressure and control that comes with being a manager. . Whether Klopp can withstand the latter’s buzz in the long term remains to be seen.
(Top Photos: Getty Images)
