The past seven months, Jurgen Klopp said with a telling smile, had been idyllic. Plenty of padel tennis, a fitness regime that seen him shed a few kilos and even a chance to indulge in his passion for skiing. He went to Switzerland and ‘loved it’.
‘It’s been nice,’ Klopp said. ‘We found a corner where we could hide.’
But there was nowhere to hide on Tuesday in Red Bull’s Hangar-7, an innovative exhibition space that sits next to the runway of Salzburg airport. No. Klopp was back in the public eye, fielding all manner of enquiries from 200 media outlets but it made you wonder: Why here? Why now?
Klopp started work as Red Bull’s Global Head of Soccer on January 1, having been appointed last October. He will be responsible for driving sustained progress in an organisation that has teams in Austria, Germany, France, Japan, America and Brazil and it’s role that means the quiet life is over.
And it also means there is pressure. A little story from earlier this week when Chalerm Yoovidhya, one of Red Bull’s co-owners, walked into an office carrying a picture of Klopp holding the Champions League aloft and, wryly, stated to him: ‘When are we winning one of these?’
‘I said seven months ago when I finished at Liverpool that I was not the right man for the job anymore,’ said Klopp. ‘But I never said I would not work anymore. The opportunity to come and do this caught fire pretty quickly. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be part of it.’
Jurgen Klopp marked the official start of his role at Red Bull with a conversation with the media
After winning the Champions League with his Liverpool side, the Red Bull hierarchy are hoping he brings the same magic to their European teams, including RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg
Klopp started on January 1 and a week later was watching acquisition-in-waiting Paris FC
He meant it. Some will wonder how this new world fits with Klopp’s outlook on life. Here he was, sat on a stage flanked by two Red Bull Formula One cars, with a Red Bull Helicopter behind him and drinking from a newly-branded can of the sponsor’s product after three questions.
There is no question, as an organisation within sport, Red Bull attract criticism and Klopp knows, by association, scrutiny will come his way, too. One thing that can’t be doubted about this 57-year-old, though, is the fact he has an inquisitive mind, a thirst to try different things to eke out improvement.
It’s why he brought in the world champion surfer Sebastian Steudtner to speak to Liverpool’s players in the summer of 2019, ahead of what proved to be a title winning campaign, about marginal gains; it’s why he one day hopes to pick the brains of Red Bull’s most famous athlete.
‘I want to figure out how Mr (Max) Verstappen has such high focus when he is driving at 300mph,’ said Klopp. ‘He is going into a bend that is 180 degrees, controls it and performs under that pressure and is still at his best mind-set. Give me that information and I will try to translate it to football.
‘I’ve never been to a Formula One race, I’ve watched a few on TV. I’ve never been to a world championship ski race. I’m a sports maniac and I’ve got a lot of these things on my bucket list, to speak to people. You have to be innovative. The power is out there with different knowledge.
‘I want to help young people develop. I’ve had a lot of meetings in the past week and, pretty much, on every occasion I have been the oldest person in the room. There is space for better decisions. I see myself as an advisor. In my mind, I want us to be special. We will see what we can do.’
Plenty will wonder whether this is simply a stage for him to negotiate before, inevitably, he turns up on the sidelines again. During 90 minutes, he slipped into the role of head coach when he bemoaned the amount of football in the calendar and came alive when preaching about counter-pressing.
RB Leipzig and Red Bull Salzburg have both endured difficult campaigns – the Austrians fired Klopp’s old Liverpool assistant Pep Lijnders in December – and how tempting would it be for his bosses to simply ask him to step forward and take charge?
He also stressed that he was interested in sports as a whole rather than simply football
But one of his first tasks will be helping transform the fortunes of Salzburg – where his old assistant Pep Lijnders (above) has just been sacked after a disappointing start to the season
Klopp was tempted back to work by Red Bull’s managing director Oliver Mintzlaff (right)
‘That won’t happen,’ he said, firmly. ‘I will not be the coach of any Red Bull team. I will not be replacing any Red Bull coach. That is a complete commitment, as much as you can say I will not be a coach at all. This means a lot to me, it is a new start – opening a new chapter for me and my family.
‘People only know me as a football person but I am a sports person. What I love is the variety of different sports and that’s why it was an easy decision for me. It’s adventurous, it’s innovative and it’s exciting. I wanted to be part of it and now I am.’
He knows how people will receive what he says but there was no reason to doubt anything Klopp declared about having no regrets on walking away from Liverpool, even though he is watching the squad he helped assemble move into a position where they may win another title.
Read More
EXCLUSIVE
Inside the Red Bull football factory… and what Jurgen Klopp should expect
Similarly, the idea of coaching Germany is off the table for the foreseeable future, as he eulogised over Julian Nagelsmann, whom he hopes will lead his nation for the next 10 years and ‘then why can’t he have another 20 back at a club? He’s still young enough.’
No, Klopp is convinced this is the right move at the right time and only this role – which was sold, compellingly, to him by Oliver Mintzlaff, Red Bull’s CEO of Corporate Projects – would have lured him from the solitude of sun and padel tennis.
‘The only thing I did differently before was work with just one club,’ said Klopp. ‘Now we have a few more. In my mind, I want us to be special. I really want to help the people live that. I think that’s a real challenge but that’s what we try to do.’
