Klopp's Quiet Victory Lap: Life After Liverpool and a New Red Bull Era

Life After Anfield: Klopp's Quiet Freedom

German coach Jürgen Klopp says he doesn’t miss anything from his professional life since leaving Liverpool in the summer of 2024 after a nine-year run that left its mark not just on Anfield but on English football as a whole.

Klopp led the Reds to the Premier League title after a 30-year drought, as well as the Champions League, delivering the high-octane football famous as "Rock and Roll Football".

In an interview with The Athletic, Klopp said he never felt emptiness after stepping away from Liverpool, instead enjoying time away from pressure, watching some matches without the weekend excitement, and preferring to spend time exercising and with his grandchildren, stressing that he does not want to return to coaching, at least not right now.

He smiled: "I am now 58 years old. Maybe if I come back at 65 people will say I promised not to return, but right now I don’t feel I miss anything."

In January he did return to football, but in a very different role: Global Football Director at the Red Bull group, where he helps shape football philosophy, coach development, and transfer strategies.

The Red Bull group owns several clubs worldwide, notably RB Leipzig in Germany, Red Bull Salzburg in Austria, Paris FC in France, New York Red Bulls in the United States, Red Bull Bragantino in Brazil, and Omiya Ardija in Japan, in addition to a limited role with Leeds United as a minority shareholder and main shirt sponsor.

Klopp appeared more at ease after 16 months away from the pressures of the Premier League, looking younger, livelier, and keeping that wide smile and familiar sense of humor, especially when touching on Manchester United’s troubles.

Speaking about his career, Klopp said: "I don’t have the best career; someone else has been more successful, but I achieved everything. I’ve lost more European finals than many, yet I learned how to deal with defeat and how life goes on."

On World Cup organizing with 64 teams, he quipped: "Honestly, I didn’t even want to think about it. When I read about it, I said to myself: no, I won’t dive into that."

Regarding the criticisms he faced after taking the Red Bull role, especially in Germany for the Leipziger model and the 50+1 debate, Klopp said: "I knew this would happen. Germans love Red Bull in every field but not in football. The objections didn’t come from Germany as a whole, though some did."

He added: "I don’t expect people to remember what I did with previous clubs. Mainz fans, for example, didn’t know me as a player or coach; they heard about me from their fathers. It’s all very normal."

"In Liverpool, for instance, people are happy I’m not coaching a rival. If I went to Italy or Spain the reaction would be different. If I had gone to Bayern Munich, Dortmund fans would have been angry. I finished my stint at Liverpool at 57, and I knew I wouldn’t stop working, but I wanted a break, and I enjoyed it a lot."

He revealed a prior agreement with his wife from 2001 that he would spend "25 years giving 110% to coaching without looking left or right," adding with a smile: "She told me back then that if it didn’t work I could become a taxi driver."

Klopp believes the risk of leaving coaching was worth it, explaining: "I never thought I’d coach until the end of my life. I didn’t miss anything because I hadn’t planned to. In about 25 years I attended only two weddings, one mine and another two months ago. I’ve visited the cinema four times, all in the last eight weeks. Now it’s nice to be able to do that."

He noted: "I have the freedom to travel and decide when… or rather, she decides. The most important thing is that the English or German leagues no longer set the pace for me."

Sometimes he leaves training sessions twenty minutes early: "I don’t need to see everything. I spent my life doing that. It may seem crazy, but I don’t miss it. I’m still in football, but I learn new things every day, and this has never happened to me like this before."

He emphasized that he’s not chasing the past despite valuing his experiences and the people who crossed his path. Since leaving Liverpool, he has visited Anfield only once, for the season’s final game that saw Aren Slot and his team crowned Premier League champions.

Klopp treasures his new freedom: "I can take a holiday, and decide when… or it’s decided for me—my life, my schedule. And anyway, the English and German leagues aren’t the boss of me anymore."

Sometimes he travels between countries as a coach, but he says he no longer spends every waking hour chasing every detail. He’s still in football, but now he’s learning new things every day in a way he never did before, and that’s the beauty of growing older without growing dull."

Punchline 1: I traded the heat of the touchline for the heat of the living room—same aim, just a lot closer to the snacks. Punchline 2: If football needs a sniper, I’m now targeting the snack table with laser precision. Note: jokes kept light and non-threatening.