As Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp disliked long meetings. Instead of sitting around pondering the latest big decision, he regularly has important conversations over lunch in the training ground cafeteria.
Klopp was anything but formal, but Mike Gordon, president of Liverpool owner Fenway Sports Group, also acted with the casual confidence that internet entrepreneurs often possess, linking the German with business executives placed on the same level. According to Gordon, he was “the person you would choose to run your company,” as he told Raphael Honigstein in his book “Bringing the Noise.”
Klopp, who will take on the role of Red Bull’s global head of football starting early next year, is likely to take on that overall responsibility. As Red Bull explained in a statement, he will not be involved in the day-to-day running of the five clubs in which he owns, sponsors or has a minority stake, but he will help sporting directors, scouting departments and coaches ensure Red Bull ‘s “philosophy” runs through every one of its interests.
The suddenness of the decision – nine years and one day after his arrival at Liverpool – might seem surprising on the face of it, given how tired Klopp looked when he left Anfield in May. At the time, he said he was exhausted and needed a complete break from football management.
Jurgen Klopp receives a guard of honor after his final game against Liverpool (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
He left Borussia Dortmund at the end of the 2014-15 season with a similar message, quickly landing on Merseyside after a summer spent mainly playing tennis.
Klopp finds it difficult to sit still for long periods of time, but his new job at Red Bull allows him to return to the game he loves in a slower, less stressful way – and most likely with the German national team precursor.
Gordon’s assessment of Klopp’s ability was made in 2017, and his power grew over the next few years as Liverpool became increasingly successful. By this point, the support network that had also contributed to Liverpool’s rise was dismantled. Klopp did not manage Liverpool, as the most important financial decisions were still made by Gordon, but he was the public face of a multinational company and the football department became his. This explains why Liverpool now employ a head coach rather than a manager, with the club’s sporting director responsible for strategy and staffing decisions. It would be nice to hear from Klopp whether he thinks taking on too much responsibility is causing him to burn out.
Maybe the Red Bull gig gave him a chance to learn about a world he was curious about. Last year, there were rumors that he was taking an athletic director course, but his representatives would not confirm or deny it. Unlike at Liverpool, he will be able to do his job without the pressure of preparing a team, games and press conferences. In an Instagram post on Tuesday, he said the treadmill was preventing him from learning as much as he could. From here, if he ends up taking charge of Germany, he will surely gain a better understanding of the responsibilities that come with different leadership positions.
Klopp is not the first former Liverpool manager to hold this special title at Red Bull. In 2012, after Gerard Houllier was forced to retire due to deteriorating health, he met company founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who was riding a motorcycle Wearing jeans to a conference in Austria.
The extent of Houllier’s influence depends on who you talk to. While he later claimed he played a leading role in the organization’s attempt to bring Sadio Mane from Metz to its fold in 2012, those close to the organization said his role was closer to that of the ambassador. Responsibilities: Show up in various countries, shake hands with partners, and occasionally whisper advice.
Will Klopp’s role be as all-encompassing as it sounds? He would certainly be useful to the Red Bull brand, which has needed some legitimacy since it started investing in football in 2005.
Houllier had been away from Liverpool for eight years when he joined, and the Red Bulls had yet to develop a team talented enough to reach the Champions League group stages. Although its Leipzig side has successfully advanced to this round in seven of the past eight seasons, the story of a team rising from the regional divisions has not been encouraged in Germany, where rules tend to favor fans. Preference for representation and substantial outside investment is viewed with suspicion.
Borussia Dortmund fans protest before a game 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 taking side shots at the human element in rivals and elsewhere. Had he been in charge of Dortmund in 2016, when Dortmund faced recently promoted RB Leipzig for the first time in the Bundesliga, it would have been interesting to hear his thoughts on Dortmund fans boycotting matches in protest at their opponents’ actions. ‘Ownership model.
“Dortmund make money, but we do it to play football,” Jan-Henrik Gruszecki, one of the organizers of the protest, told the Guardian. “But Leipzig plays football to promote a product and a lifestyle. That’s the difference.
Klopp may therefore have damaged his reputation by aligning himself with the soda maker – contrary to the company he once represented. Perhaps it will depend on how visible he is during his time at Red Bull, especially in Germany.
Klopp will no longer be Red Bull’s day-to-day coach (Alexander Hasenstein/Getty Images)
Back in England, the company took a minority stake in Leeds United and became the club’s shirt sponsor. “The ambition to get Leeds United back into the Premier League and establish themselves in the best football league in the world fits very well with Red Bull,” Oliver Mintzlaff said in May. Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s chief executive of corporate projects, played an important role in Klopp’s appointment.
That same month, Klopp said when he left Liverpool that he would never coach another Premier League club. But it’s not hard to imagine Leeds United returning to the top flight soon, and if that happens – and Red Bull have provided technical support as expected – it will be interesting to see if Klopp remains in the position. Where that’s going to be, it’ll be interesting to see.
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Immediately, many teased that one of his first priorities might involve sacking his former assistant at Liverpool, Pep Lijnders, after his Red Bull Salzburg side were beaten by Brest and Storm Graz in back-to-back games last week. team defeated.
There are no plans to sack the Dutch coach, but Klopp did not officially start coaching Red Bull until January. Given how close their relationship was at Liverpool, with Lijnders entrusted with leading training sessions, it seems unthinkable that Klopp would recommend changes if asked. On the contrary, Klopp’s arrival in the Red Bull stable will undoubtedly increase his chances of survival.
Now that Klopp has been removed from the drudgery of day-to-day management, the role seems to strike a delicate balance with new challenges at the elite level but without the pressure and scrutiny that comes with being a manager. It remains to be seen whether Klopp can withstand the latter’s buzz in the long term.
(Popular Photo: Getty Images)
