It has been nearly a decade since Jürgen Klopp last worked full time for a German football entity, but he remains the most ubiquitous face on television in the Bundesrepublik.
Switch on ARD/ZDF breakfast television any weekday morning and you’ll see segments of the show sponsored by financial services company Deutsche Vermögensberatung, accompanied by Klopp’s friendly and familiar hearty laugh. It doesn’t end there. Klopp is a natural product ambassador and has also helped promote everything from beer to exercise bikes to cars, chocolate bars and most recently, an electronics company.
So, it was no surprise that Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff went to tremendous lengths to secure Klopp for the ever-expanding RB football world. The surprise to many arrived in the form of the self-described “normal one” accepting the offer. Why Red Bull? It’s not exactly the most popular branch of football among German fans. Klopp surely could have picked from any number of next projects.
As “global head of soccer,” he’ll advise all the clubs worldwide within the RB stable. Not coincidentally, RB Leipzig are coached by Marco Rose, his former player at Mainz.
Meanwhile, RB Salzburg have Pepijn Lijnders, Klopp’s former Liverpool assistant at the helm. At the New York Red Bulls, it’s Sandro Schwarz, who played with and under Klopp in Mainz before either man had hit the big-time world of football.
It undoubtedly helps when you get paid a lot of money to work with friends and former associates.
I’ve been struck by the differences in reaction between England and Germany. The English attitude seems to be one of “Good luck to you, you’ve earned the right to do what you want next.”
In Germany, it was never going to be quite as relaxed. Leipzig remain polarising mostly due to the manner of their birth in 2009, buying the rights to the fifth-division Leipzig-area club SSV Markranstädt, and with only a limited membership, loyal to Red Bull management, thus avoiding issues with German football’s 50+1 ownership structure whereby members must own the majority of each club.
This makes RB pariahs to many traditional football fans, and for Klopp, the people’s man, to associate himself with them was never going to be met with strong approval. The cover of last Thursday’s Kicker, the specialty German football magazine, featured Klopp’s face and the self-explanatory words “Kultur-Schock.” Kicker’s online poll of readers showed 72% disapproved of his move.
The Klopp topic opened Sunday’s weekly Doppelpass panel discussion on Sport1 and, in contrast, most of the participants stood behind Klopp’s decision. Particularly vocal in admiration of Red Bull was former Eintracht Frankfurt and Hertha Berlin sporting chief Fredi Bobic.
Qualifying for the UEFA Nations League quarterfinals with such ease is not something we’ve grown accustomed to. Nagelsmann hit the jackpot with Stuttgart’s Jamie Leweling in his Germany debut, scorer of a thumping goal and unlucky to see an earlier strike chalked off for a controversial and complex offside.
The inclusion of striker Tim Kleindienst in both games also merits mention. At 29, Kleindienst, previously with Heidenheim and now with Borussia Mönchengladbach, was selected due to the Leistungsprinzip — performances dictate personnel.
Play well at club level and Nagelsmann is sure to notice. It marks such a bold change from the past when there seemingly had to be a Bayern Munich block and a Borussia Dortmund block and you filled in the squad from there.
Matarazzo working to save his seat at Hoffenheim
It seems only fair to update manager Pellegrino Matarazzo’s situation in TSG Hoffenheim. I must admit while penning this column just before the international break, I thought there was a good chance he would have been relieved of his duties by now.
But the Leistungsprinzip has come to the Italian-American’s aid. It’s difficult to dismiss someone after supervising fine back-to-back performances against Dynamo Kyiv (2-0) in the UEFA Europa League and Stuttgart (1-1 away) in the Bundesliga.
In addition, Hoffenheim have just appointed highly regarded sporting director Andreas Schicker from Austrian champions Sturm Graz, and he’s not about to tear things up as he gets his feet under the table. The status quo for Matarazzo has been confirmed by Dr. Markus Schütz, chairman of the management board.
“We’ve never said it’s his last game, but that we all have to be successful and as quickly as possible,” Dr. Schütz said. “There is no identifiable final. That would also ruin the atmosphere to set such ultimatums. It’s pointless.”
Still, with only four points gathered from six games, this weekend’s home match against bottom club Bochum will tell us a lot.
