Speaking to Welt am Sonntag, former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp commented on whether he would return to a head coaching role eventually.
In 2024, Klopp stepped down from his role as Liverpool manager and was replaced by Arne Slot. Ever since, there have been questions about when he may possibly return to the dugout, on if he would consider becoming a head coach again, Klopp said:
“I don’t want that anymore. I have a job now that fulfills me and is also intense. I don’t sleep in the morning and I don’t go to bed later at night, but I can organize my work much better. My wife, for example, is really happy with it because we can plan things much better that we couldn’t before. For me it was never about not doing anything, but rather about doing something else.
I have coached 1,081 games, and that doesn’t include the friendlies. If we count those from 23 years, we get maybe 1,200. Then there were the press conferences, the media appointments. I was always just reacting. And at Liverpool I also had the responsibility of being a manager. That was a lot, a lot. But of course I enjoyed it too. Some days I couldn’t believe my luck. Just look where I came from – and then I made it to Liverpool FC, and it worked out pretty well there. If I were to go back to coaching somewhere, it would all start again. I’m me! I can’t just take over and coach. Then I’d be completely involved everywhere again. And I just don’t see that happening anymore.”
There have been suggestions that the former Borussia Dortmund and Mainz head coach could become the RB Leipzig head coach after sacking Marco Rose. Klopp commented that if it was out of the question, he would take charge at the Red Bull Arena:
Of course. That was the agreement with Oliver from the start . It’s about my role at Red Bull, in which I’m not the sword of Damocles hanging over our coaches. In keeping with the motto: I’ll tell you how it’s done, and if you don’t understand, I’ll do it myself.
That will never happen. Red Bull didn’t bring me in as a potential coach. I’m supposed to pass on the experience I’ve gained as a head coach and manager, and I’m supposed to help younger colleagues develop. We want to hire coaches for the right reasons and, if necessary, part ways with them for the right reasons. And for me, it’s all about sporting development and not how it’s perceived by the public.
Klopp became Red Bull Global Head of Soccer at the beginning of this calendar year. On what his actual role entails in the multi-club model, Klopp said:
We develop! Look at Paris FC. They played in the French second division for 46 years and have now been promoted. Now it’s time to take the club to the next level, knowing full well that milk and honey don’t flow from the tap just because Red Bull is on it. In New York, for example, there will soon be one of the most modern youth academies in the world, and in Bragatino, Brazil, a new training ground is being built to give talented players the opportunity to develop – but in peace. It’s clear that in football you need money for that. But no one from the club’s management calls headquarters and asks if they can send over 50 million euros. Every cent has to be fought for. To say it again: I don’t want to convince anyone of what I’m doing. People can criticise me as much as they want. But strangely enough, no fewer people want to take a selfie with me than before.
Since then, Klopp has been busy touring the different clubs in the Red Bull Group, but most of his time recently has been spent on hiring a new head coach for Leipzig. Now that Ole Werner is in charge, the attention of one of Germany’s greatest coaches will most likely turn to Paris FC, a new club in the Red Bull Group.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
