Jürgen Klopp recently experienced a relaxed Saturday in New York, a stark contrast to his past demanding schedule. Despite waking at 5:30 a.m. ET due to jet lag, his day was filled with personal enjoyment: monitoring RB Omiya Ardija`s thrilling 4-3 comeback victory in Japan`s second division, catching RB Leipzig`s 1-0 win at Wolfsburg, strolling down Fifth Avenue, exploring Central Park, and even sampling gummy bears at Sports Illustrated Stadium before the New York Red Bulls faced New York City FC. This leisurely pace led to a profound realization.
“This time last year, I would be at Crystal Palace explaining a loss. I was so happy I didn`t have to do that,” he cheerfully confessed during an exclusive 45-minute interview, reflecting on Liverpool`s defeat to the South London side earlier that day. “That`s why I was walking through Central Park this afternoon, thinking, `Yes! Perfect decision.`”
Klopp`s Saturday highlighted the welcome change for the former Reds manager, whose weekends once revolved around matches for which he bore “1,000% responsibility,” especially in defeat. In the year since leaving Anfield, he has embraced a new role as Red Bull`s head of global soccer. He believes this move is ideal for all involved: his tactical philosophy aligns with his new employer`s, who benefit from his title-winning reputation, while he remains engaged in a job with many parallels to his coaching career. Though from an outsider`s perspective it might seem like a step back for a manager at the peak of his powers, Klopp firmly asserts it is not retirement, nor a temporary placeholder for a future coaching comeback.
“I don`t miss anything,” he stated about coaching. “I didn`t miss it from the first second.”
“I Will Not Go Back” to Coaching
When Klopp announced in January 2024 his decision to leave Liverpool after nearly a decade, it surprised many. The Reds were still performing well, ultimately winning the EFL Cup, reaching the FA Cup and UEFA Europa League quarterfinals, and finishing third in the Premier League. Managers rarely depart while successful, and Klopp was undeniably among the sport`s elite when he chose to step away.
Reflecting on his past, his decision becomes clearer. Klopp described his pre-match anxiety, holding his hands close to his chest and slowly bringing them together.
“I don`t miss sitting on the bus or coach on the way to the game and feeling my chest closing in,” he shared. “You think, `I know it`s only football,` but my body just doesn`t understand it. The pressure is immense, truly immense, and even though I`m not completely done and I know there are more important things in life, it`s still significant because you want to perform well, do it right, do it for the people, win, whatever. You just want to enjoy what you are doing.”
More than two decades after his first managerial role at Mainz in 2001, he stated unequivocally that one of sports` most demanding professions had finally taken its toll.
“I could have stayed at Liverpool. Somehow, I would have gotten through that season. If someone asked me a silly question, I wouldn`t have been strong enough to say anymore, `I know where you`re coming from.` I just would have gone for him, her, whatever. `That`s enough!` My bottle or glass, whatever, was really full,” he explained, illustrating with his hands that one more drop would have caused an explosion. “Anyway, I loved everything about it until I couldn`t do it anymore, so that`s that.”
Upon leaving his post at Liverpool, his body reacted accordingly.
“I wasn`t ill for 24 years, or whatever, so I finished with Liverpool,” he recalled. “I think two or three weeks later was the start of the Euros. We had tickets for all Germany`s group games, and an option for later stages if they progressed. I went to the first game, and then I was sicker than I`ve ever been in my life. Two weeks, couldn`t lift my head. `Can you please switch the light off?` It was crazy – headache, temperature, in the middle of summer. I hated myself so much. I was so desperate for life. I couldn`t move my head! What`s happening? That`s not fair. Not everything in my life has to click and be the best, but that`s not fair, so my body needed two weeks or whatever.”
With three league titles in two countries, one UEFA Champions League title, over 500 career wins as a manager, and one brutal cold behind him, Klopp clearly has nothing left to prove. He insists there is nothing specific he misses about his former responsibilities. A year away from the touchline has not made his heart grow fonder; instead, it has solidified the decision he made in the winter of 2024.
“From some perspectives, I`m an old man,” the 58-year-old said. “That means if I look at my grandkids, they look at me like an old man, but in the business, there are older people still working than me… If I have to make the decision today for an entire whatever, I will say no. I will not go back. But looking at Carlo Ancelotti, I don`t even know how old he is, maybe 65 or something like that. It would mean I have seven years` time to change my mind, so I probably cannot say I will not coach, 1,000%, I will not be back, but in this moment right now, I miss nothing. I enjoy what I`m doing. I don`t want to stop working at all. I never wanted to. I just wanted, needed something else.”
That “something else” is his role at Red Bull, where he enjoys the best of both worlds – enough work to keep him busy, combined with the rare luxury of work-life balance, usually unattainable for a professional coach.
“We go on holiday when we want, not when we are allowed to,” he explained. “You can organize everything like that, and we have Mario Gomez [former Germany international and current technical director of Red Bull Soccer]; he will take over. He can go on holiday, I can go on holiday, one of us is here and doing the job, informs the other one. The world will not change overnight just because we are, for a week, somewhere, and that`s how it should be, and it never was, and now it is like that.”
A role with a national team, a position Klopp has never held, is often seen as a compromise for club managers. However, Klopp has previously rebuffed such offers, including those from the USMNT and England, preferring a break from the game. Even with his sabbatical complete and an influx of club managers taking international posts (like Mauricio Pochettino at the USMNT, Thomas Tuchel with England, Carlo Ancelotti with Brazil, and Julian Nagelsmann continuing with Germany), Klopp still doesn`t fully grasp the appeal, nor does he view it as a less demanding job.
“No clue,” he said with a hearty laugh when pondering why club managers have recently taken international postings. “I don`t know it, really. As a footballer, if somebody would have told me you had the chance to become a German international, honestly I don`t know what I would have done for it. Really? What do I have to do? What do I have to sell? My soul? It`s crazy how much I dreamt of it – everybody in soccer. It`s crazy, and the coach is not exactly the same, but if you want, kind of, serving your country, I understand that, and it would be a massive honor, but for me, so far I was never in the situation. I was at a contract at a club and I have, not a contract, but this moment, I can`t really see myself as a coach, and that`s not an idea, I`m not like children sitting in the corner saying, `I don`t want to do that.` It`s just I know what I need to do it. I need to be on top of my game. If I`m not that, I`m not good. If I`m not good, why should I do it? It makes no sense. That`s the reason.”
Klopp isn`t vying for the Germany job post-World Cup, either.
“The job, in my understanding, is an intense job, being the national coach,” he clarified. “People say, `Oh, he`s only working every three or four weeks and whatever, and he brings the players together, and they`re all good players,` so I don`t know. I never really thought about it. I am the biggest supporter of Julian Nagelsmann. I am. I hope Germany will become world champions, and he signs another few years.”
Coaching “In a Different Way”
Klopp`s weeks-long illness in the summer of 2024 led him to two conclusions: first, he missed nothing about coaching; second, he needed a new way to occupy his time.
“I knew relatively quickly, even though I enjoyed the time off immensely, that it`s just the longest holiday in my life and not the future,” he remarked. “I will not do nothing. I love my grandkids to bits – right arm, left arm, you need it, take it, no problem, but 24/7? Are you kidding me? Sitting in the corner building a house, and then he destroys it? Oh, come on!… It`s wonderful. It`s wonderful, but not 24/7.”
He was announced as Red Bull`s head of global soccer in October, formally beginning in January. He describes the role as “like being a fan with having more say.” His influence is substantial – Klopp is tasked with developing and implementing a tactical vision for Red Bull`s international network of clubs, encompassing six majority-owned teams and two in which Red Bull holds a minority share. This pioneering role within Red Bull`s multi-club ownership model provides enough energy for a “true mastermind of the game,” according to Mario Gomez.
“This is a role at Red Bull that has never existed in this form before, within a truly attractive club network,” Gomez told CBS Sports. “Here, he has the chance to shape something new, to drive development forward in a decisive way, and to leave his mark. His approach fits perfectly with Red Bull, because throughout his coaching career, he has always developed teams and clubs. What impresses me most: he wants to keep learning every single day. And with this mindset, he inspires everyone else to do the same — to learn.”
Klopp considers himself a natural stylistic fit for Red Bull, as “my life was like the Red Bull philosophy. It`s being perfectly organized against the ball, these kinds of things, high-intensity, these kinds of things.” This is not the only shared trait between Klopp and his new employer.
“The life of a Red Bull football team is like my life was as a manager for most of my career,” he elaborated. “When you play a really good season, other teams will buy the best players. We are not the biggest fish in the sea. It`s only the last four, five years at Liverpool where it was different. Before that, we played exceptionally, and somebody picked Robert Lewandowski, Philippe Coutinho, whoever it was, Nuri Sahin. You said, `Oh, my God, where are you going?` Mario Gotze. That means you have to deal with that, and that`s how I created a philosophy, and this philosophy fits really well to Red Bull football teams.”
Klopp outlines his philosophy as two-pronged. The general philosophy is to serve as “the talent pool for – I don`t want to use the word `football` but football,” primarily through developing young players. This concept is admirable, but in the often-criticized multi-club ownership landscape, its implementation can be seen as illegitimate. Klopp remains unfazed by such criticism.
“I know I said in Germany in my first press conference that I want to give wings to people,” he recounted. “People would say it`s a bit cheap to use the slogan of the company, but if I`m 1,000% honest, it`s in me. I always wanted it. I always wanted young players and to make them fly, so now I say I want to give them wings, and it`s the Red Bull slogan; you can say it`s cheap, but it was just here. … I know what people think about MCOs. It`s like just money, it`s like swapping players from A to B. It doesn`t happen. It doesn`t really happen. It`s difficult right now, and it`s not really what we do here.”
This leads to the playing philosophy – where Klopp seamlessly transitions back into coach mode.
“The playing philosophy is a philosophy which is based on stability because if you want to give young people the chance to develop, you have to make sure that they are not overwhelmed constantly,” Klopp stated. “They are not ready for that. They would never say it out loud, but inside, we all have that voice – are we really ready for that? Not sure, so you create a surrounding and a basis which is really stable and really, on the football pitch, is with the way you defend, and if that, everybody`s got it. … Great, and now fly, and now jump, and now be brave, and now nothing can happen because as long as we do all these kinds of things, you can be the bravest team on the planet because you make a mistake, no problem, but you make it there, roughly 70, 80 meters away from our goal, you have opportunities to win the ball back until it happens here. You can really go crazy – nutmeg, backheel, whatever. Do. Be free. Show your talent.”
Klopp clarifies he is “not the guy who tells everybody how to do it exactly,” but rather introduces ideas to coaches, fitting Gomez`s description of him as “a mentor and sparring partner.” The infectious enthusiasm always present in his media appearances as a coach, and during this interview, is equally evident to Gomez, who consistently highlights Klopp`s warmth. While his “glass” may have been full just over a year ago, Klopp now radiates enthusiasm, perhaps a result of achieving the elusive work-life balance.
“He is highly focused, committed, and at the same time super empathetic,” Gomez commented. “He brings everyone along and makes them feel, `Hey, I`m here for you — reach out to me anytime.` … He has an incredible ability to connect with people. He is straightforward and totally direct, yet always respectful. And he leaves every meeting filled with positive energy and motivation for everyone involved. I truly value his outstanding soft skills.”
Klopp`s leadership style appears patient, frequently emphasizing that things will not “happen overnight,” though he has already initiated some ideas. For instance, he suggested that all Red Bull teams adopt a back four this season, including the New York Red Bulls, who played with five at the back en route to the MLS Cup final in 2024.
“You might remember, when I arrived, we played with five in the back, a different way,” he noted. “For the new season, we all play four in the back, and then it`s either a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. On some days, a proper 4-4-2, no problem, but we have to agree on a few things, and the thing is, look out there, the best teams in the world play with wingers. An old system, it was like 4-2-2-2. The wingers were the fullbacks, but no. There`s a good reason why, it would be much too long – I could write a book about that, by the way – so you need players in that area; it doesn`t have to be always the same, and first and foremost, the players have to be able to defend in that position. In a 4-3-3, my two wingers were – most of the time at Liverpool – Sadio Mane and Mo Salah. World stars still had to run their socks off so for that, everybody else supported them and threw them in front of the goal and made them score, so this is the common idea.”
Style of play, as always, is paramount at Red Bull, to the extent that Klopp argues it carries more weight in managerial decisions within the company`s network of clubs than at most counterparts.
“If we sack a manager, for example, I want to do that for the right reasons, and if we employ a manager, I want to do that for the right reasons,” he said. “Usually in that situation, you change the manager because the results aren`t right, barely because the style of play isn`t right. Mostly the results, and the next one who`s coming in, you sign under pressure. It`s like, `Oh, my God! We have to sack the manager! Who`s on the market? Nobody. We have to sack him anyway! Wow! Who do we bring in?` What is that? Who is that? He coached five years ago somewhere. That`s the guy you take, and we don`t want to do that. The next thing, we know already in the future we need more coaches, so we try to scout coaches all over the world. We are out there. Nobody cares about it because we are used to bringing them in under pressure. That`s how it goes, and usually it works, somehow, a breath of fresh air, all these things.”
Having a say in managerial hires – and departures – is perhaps the most significant distinction between Klopp`s past and present responsibilities, especially for someone who “did what somebody else said over the last 25 years, and I just got used to it.” While his Saturdays are mostly his own now, some routines persist. He watches the same amount of soccer as before, just different teams. His staff, including Thomas Tuchel`s former assistant Zsolt Low and his own ex-assistant Peter Krawietz, also monitors every Red Bull team`s game, not as “judges,” but to share information with managers “if he needs it, because in the ideal world, no coach needs it.”
In essence, the Red Bull job perfectly satisfies his coaching instincts.
“I manage. The only thing is I`m not on the pitch. Sometimes I stand on the side,” Klopp concluded. “I`m not coaching, but pretty much I do, in a different way.”
