Jurgen Klopp branded ‘traitor’ and ‘hypocrite’ by angry fans as Liverpool icon risks tarnishing reputation at Red Bull
JURGEN Klopp stunned football when he announced a return to the game just months after leaving Liverpool.
Less than a year since Anfield hero Klopp said he was “running out of energy” when he confirmed his departure from the Merseysiders, he was appointed as “head of global football” at the Red Bull group.
Red Bull have six clubs in their stable including Leipzig, Salzburg and now Leeds.
But while Klopp copped a social media backlash from some Borussia Dortmund fans – with suggestions he might be targeted by a banner at the club’s next home game – the reaction across much of Germany was stunned disbelief.
Dortmund, like Liverpool, are very much a fans’ club, part of the heartbeat of their city.
RB Leipzig, the flagship of the Red Bull stable, were only founded in 2009 when the drinks company purchased the playing rights of a fifth-tier side in the East German city.
Yet in unveiling Klopp as their new figurehead, with a role to help with the group’s “strategic vision” and global scouting operation as well as training and developing coaches, Red Bull have potentially risked compromising their star signing’s reputation.
The shock announcement of a five-year deal – with conflicting reports over whether there was a get-out clause if the German national team came calling – came out of the blue.
While Klopp, who will start his new role on January 1, said the opportunity “could not excite me more”, as far as many fans, especially in Dortmund were concerned, the news could not have angered them less.
Some denounced Klopp as a “traitor” and a “hypocrite”, with consternation among Liverpool supporters who had expected he would be out of football for at least a year.
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And the scale of the reaction saw the German, 57, break his holiday to post a video message in which he tried to explain: “A few months ago I said that I don’t see myself on the sidelines anymore and that is still the case.
“But I still love football and I still love working. Red Bull gives me the perfect platform for that.
“I want to share my experience which I collected over the years and we all know there are much more successful managers out there.
“In my career, I fought for promotion, I fought against relegation, I’ve fought for titles, I’ve fought for trophies.
“Sometimes we failed, sometimes we succeeded and dealing with that is not easy. But it’s possible.
“Now I have time and I have the opportunity. I want to see and feel and figure out what is useful in football.
“So developing football a little bit as well. Really looking forward to it but now I go back on holiday. See you in January.”
Klopp has botched his Liverpool exit… and it’s cost him his legacy, says Dave Kidd
By Dave Kidd
NOW we know Jurgen Klopp’s final major trophy haul at Liverpool — one Champions League, one Premier League, one FA Cup, two League Cups and (if you must) a World Club Cup.
But where does his reign stand among the greatest of the Premier League era?
In black-and-white terms, Klopp is way behind Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola, the only two men to have won multiple Premier Leagues and a Champions League at the same club.
Those two sit alongside Brian Clough, Bob Paisley and Sir Matt Busby as the undoubted all-time managerial greats of the English game.
But Klopp ranks in the next tier down — with Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho (the Chelsea version), Bill Shankly and Don Revie.
These were all men with the strength of character to transform their clubs in their own image and enjoy success but who did not win as much as they might have done.
Had Klopp managed to keep his intentions under wraps and ended up with another title, perhaps even a treble or quadruple, he’d have edged himself up into that highest echelon with Ferguson, Guardiola, Clough, Paisley and Busby.
But deciding the timing and the manner of your exit is one of the toughest calls for any manager or sportsman.
Klopp got it wrong.
Read Dave Kidd’s take on Klopp’s demise in full here.
Or click here to check out all of Dave Kidd’s articles.
Klopp’s move was evidently no shock to Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke, who said: “It’s not a surprise to me because I talked about it with him personally. I wish Jurgen luck in his new job.”
And it was unquestionably a coup for Red Bull, whose boss Oliver Mintzlaff said: “We are very proud of this outstanding and certainly the strongest signing in Red Bull’s football history.
“Jurgen Klopp is one of the greatest and most influential figures in world football, with extraordinary skills and charisma.
“He will be a game changer for our involvement in international football and its continued development.”