Klopp becomes head of football at Red Bull

It is rare for news agencies to label football events as “breaking news”. An important finale, the death of a celebrity, sometimes a major scandal – the circle of possible events is small. In any case, on Wednesday morning the matter was classified as extremely urgent that football coach Jürgen Klopp, who coached Liverpool FC until the end of last season, has a new commitment.

And that’s what it’s all about: Klopp will become global football director of the Red Bull Group at the beginning of 2025. As such, he will be responsible for all football activities of the Austrian beverage manufacturer, but the main focus will be on the two prestige projects in Leipzig and Salzburg. In a press release, Klopp expressed his extraordinary joy.

The response to the report is huge

The echo is huge. Klopp is treated with malice by many observers because at first glance his commitment to Red Bull seems incomprehensible, even downright absurd. Because few things in professional football seemed to be further apart than the public image of the successful coach and that of the Austrian company that understood what effect sport can have on image formation.

The philosopher Wolfram Eilenberger wrote on the short message service Other people also thought that Klopp had distorted himself to make himself recognizable. Klopp is now accused of betrayal of the cause of beautiful, true and good football and also of himself.

But one can also ask the question whether that is actually the case. Because Klopp is an extremely popular coach. But he is also, at least at second glance, a highly ambivalent figure. On the one hand, Klopp represents a level of continuity that is unusual in this business: he worked at only three clubs for more than 23 years. He led Mainz 05 to the Bundesliga and won two championships in seven years at BVB.

He was under contract with Liverpool FC since autumn 2015 and until the end of last season. He revived the traditional club, won the championship and the Champions League. The Reds said farewell to him with a grand gesture: Klopp was allowed to announce his successor himself in the stadium at Anfield Road – which one may find quite inappropriate.

Both the farewell from Liverpool and the earlier one from Dortmund were amicable. Both clubs would have liked to continue with Klopp for at least another decade. But the coach realized that the situation in Dortmund was deadlocked. And that in Liverpool he was in danger of using up his strength so quickly that it would harm him. His farewell, which was by no means abrupt, was not resented in England recently, just as it once was in the Ruhr area.

Klopp was always in the right place

In a business that spends a lot of time and energy trying to prove incompetence to former employees, this is more than unusual. Jürgen Klopp demonstrated an extremely sure hand when selecting his employers. In Mainz he was promoted from player to coach; the Ruhr area suited the Swabian and friend of clear words perfectly. When it comes to the vague criterion of so-called authenticity, one could say: Klopp was always in the right place – even in Liverpool, which, at least at first glance, has nothing to do with the vain chichi à la Manchester City, Chelsea or Arsenal.

The only question is why Klopp in particular is so polarizing with his decision in favor of RB. For others it would perhaps be viewed as logical, or at best with a shrug of the shoulders. This is probably because he has earned a special position in German football over two decades: as a telegenic football expert, as a successful coach who, with modest means, taught the fear of the European elite. And finally as probably the best ambassador that German football has ever had in England.

It is therefore not surprising that different standards are now being applied to Klopp, and the reference to the fact that he has disenchanted himself with his signature in the Red Bull empire initially seems logical. At the time, Klopp’s former CEO in Dortmund, Hans-Joachim Watzke, expressed drastically what he thought of the competitor RB Leipzig: “Football is played there to perform a can.” Only: This request is not immoral either.

The only thing that is obvious to the fans is that the supposed “authenticity monster” Klopp doesn’t fit in with Red Bull. What is forgotten, however, is that although Klopp combines almost all the positive qualities that a football coach can have, he was nowhere near as instinctively confident in all respects as he was on the sidelines. Klopp was and is a popular advertising figure for household appliances, for investment matters, for cars, for a brewery – one had the impression that he took what came and was lucrative.

Klopp was never a normal guy

And the extensively renovated teeth don’t fit the buddy’s image any more than the hair transplant. That in itself is not a problem either. But Klopp never had the earthiness that was attributed to him. He himself was keenly involved in the myth of the shirt-sleeved guy. When, upon his arrival in Liverpool, he was confronted with the legendary saying of José Mourinho, who claimed that he was “the special one”, Klopp countered with presence of mind: “I’m the normal one.” But he was never exactly that.

According to information from the TV broadcaster Sky, Klopp’s contract contains an exit clause – in case he receives an offer that he cannot refuse, such as that of the German national coach, when he decides that it is time for it. The only question is: Will the man who was considered the ideal person for this position for many years still be able to enjoy the support of his supporters?