The Athletic FC Podcast

Episode: Jurgen Klopp on life after Liverpool and his fears for football
Date: October 5, 2025
Host: Ayo Akinwolere
Featured Guest: Jurgen Klopp (with interviewer Adam Crafton)

Episode Overview

This flagship episode features an in-depth, exclusive interview with Jurgen Klopp, a year after stepping down as Liverpool manager and taking up his new role as Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull. The conversation, led by Adam Crafton, explores Klopp's transition away from frontline coaching, his candid reflections on football's demands, his philosophy in his new position, controversies over his Red Bull appointment, and his serious concerns about the future of the sport—including player burnout and the unrelenting schedule.

Key Topics and Insights

Klopp’s Transition to Red Bull and Life Beyond Coaching

• Life After Liverpool:

  • Klopp describes his new daily rhythm, which is intense but more flexible compared to club management.
  • He oversees global Red Bull football operations, travels extensively, and builds relationships at various Red Bull clubs.
  • “I’m nine months in and gained four years experience at least, probably meanwhile five here. So it’s super intense. But I love it, love it to bits, to be honest. Miss nothing from my old life.” (07:03)

• Newfound Freedom:

  • Klopp enjoys finally having control over his schedule, a sharp contrast to the relentless demands in England and Germany:
  • “The big difference is I’m much more in charge of my schedule. So I can pack a day full for something and then for the next day, whatever I do then… Didn’t happen too often yet, to be honest. But I could.” (06:45)

• Role at Red Bull:

  • Acts as an advisor in transfers and club development but relies on club professionals for negotiations.
  • Occasionally speaks directly with players to sell them on Red Bull’s vision:
    • “We have big dreams and ideas for the whole thing… The opportunity we got from Red Bull is really cool. But the clubs are in completely different stages.” (08:46)

Reflections on Coaching & Career

• No Plans to Coach Again:

  • Klopp firmly declares his coaching era is over—though he leaves a sliver of doubt for the distant future.
  • “I don’t want to work as a coach anymore.” (20:29)
  • “That’s what I think. But you don’t know. I’m 58. If I start going to be 65 and everybody tells me, 'you said it would never start, do it again.' Sorry, I thought 100%... That’s what I think now.” (20:58)

• Life Sacrifices:

  • He reveals shocking personal sacrifices made during 25 years in coaching:
  • “In 25 years I was twice on a wedding. One of them was mine and the other one is two months ago… Four times in a cinema. It was in the last eight weeks. … I did so many things not for ages because I couldn’t do it and I didn’t miss it in that moment.” (23:04)

• Being an “Open Book”

  • Klopp wants to mentor sporting directors and coaches, drawing on a career spanning every football scenario:
  • “If somebody asks me something, I’m the most open book I know.” (11:53)

• Loneliness of Coaches:

  • Speaks poignantly about leadership isolation:
  • “It is a very lonely job in the last moment of the decision… This decision-making is not everybody’s made for that. And it’s fine. It’s not no judgment. It’s just like that.” (12:08)

The Red Bull Philosophy & Criticism

• Controversy in Germany:

  • Klopp admits he anticipated backlash for joining Red Bull, given the company’s contentious place in German football:
  • “I know what people in Germany think about the involvement of Red Bull in football. They love Red Bull. They do in all departments. But football, no.” (18:19)
  • He shrugs off criticism: “I don’t expect everybody to like what I do. I have to do it for the right reasons, for my right reasons and I do that. So that’s absolutely fine.” (18:44)

• Red Bull’s Model:

  • Focus on infrastructure and youth, not just money:
  • “People think about Red Bull and think then they just throw money at it. It’s not at all… What Red Bull offers is infrastructure.” (35:50)
  • Clubs like Leipzig are intended as stepping stones:
  • “We are not the final destination. We are not Liverpool or in former times, Man United. … Other clubs buy our players, so we start again.” (13:14)

• Style of Play:

  • Klopp wants Red Bull clubs to be energetic, youth-driven, and distinctly recognizable in every league.
  • “We are energy… We have to show energy and we have to be different and we have to be younger.” (37:42)

The Toll of Premier League Management

• Constant Scrutiny and Pressure:
  • Klopp candidly discusses the “smallness” of life for elite managers, overexposure to media, and the repetitive, draining schedule:
  • “I can’t imagine anymore. I don’t want to go back to that.” (24:07)
• Memorable Analogy:
  • “It’s a little bit like…who’s your absolute movie star? ... and in the end he’s like, gets up in the morning, brushes teeth… You don’t think about these little details… But then he goes out and he’s on a film set… you do the same scene 25 times. … I had this life.” (24:42)

Football’s Frenetic Pace and Player Welfare

• Critique of the Calendar:

  • Klopp is fiercely critical of expanding competitions and the lack of player rest:
  • “At one point we have to take care again of the few people this game wouldn’t exist without them as the players. … There’s no solution besides stop organizing new tournaments in the summer break. So there’s no break anymore for these players, for the best players in the world.” (28:01–29:05)

• On Club World Cup Expansion:

  • Klopp derides the idea of a 64-team Club World Cup as unsustainable:
  • “I saw the number and thought, oh, no. I don’t get into that. Whatever I say always… it’s like I could tell it my microwave. It’s exactly the same effect. … They just forget the players. Nobody thinks about them.” (29:24–30:00)

• Player Voice Suppressed:

  • He notes a culture where players who speak up about scheduling get shut down or ignored:
  • “The players who spoke out got injured the next day… If you don’t talk about it, they will definitely not stop it.” (30:22)

The State and Future of the Game

• Tactical Shifts:

  • Sees evolving tactics as a cycle:
  • “Managers need that as well, sometimes a new way of looking at it… But I’m not the Pope of football and tell people what to do. At least not outside the Red Bull world. In the Red Bull world, I can do that.” (26:25)

• Growth of Soccer in America:

  • Analyzing New York Red Bulls and the MLS, Klopp is generally optimistic about improving standards:
  • “Quality is constantly increasing, getting better and better and better…We are still in an introduction phase…these big names [help].” (34:23)
  • He notes differences in football culture and fan development compared to Europe.

• Red Bull’s Football Identity:

  • Emphasis on youth development and high-energy football as the cornerstones of the Red Bull identity, aiming for lasting, recognizable style across all clubs. (35:50–37:58)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On leaving coaching behind:

  • “I did it my whole life. It’s crazy, but I don’t miss it so. Because I’m still in football, so that’s fine. And I still work in an environment I know about. But I learn every day, every day new things. And I didn’t do that for a while, and to the extent I do it now.” (21:11)

• On player burnout:

  • “You wouldn’t do that in any other part of life. You put not the best artist out every night until—now it happened. Now he fell down. Hey, sorry, he lost focus.” (29:05)

• On Red Bull criticism:

  • “They love Red Bull [in Germany]. They do in all departments. But football, no. So that’s their whatever. They want to do it their way. Funny enough, the reaction was only in Germany.” (18:18)

• On football’s shifting tactics:

  • “I’m not the Pope of football and tell people what to do. At least not outside the Red Bull world. In the Red Bull world, I can do that.” (27:30)

Key Timestamps

• [05:43]: Klopp describes his new role and work-life at Red Bull
• [07:03]: Reflects on flexibility, freedom, and the difference from coaching
• [11:53]: Wants to be an “open book”—mentoring coaches and sporting directors
• [13:14]: Discusses Red Bull’s “stepping stone” philosophy compared to Liverpool
• [18:18]: Talks about backlash over joining Red Bull in Germany
• [20:29]–[21:11]: Explains his mindset on not coaching again
• [24:07]–[24:42]: Life’s smallness as a Premier League manager, analogy to movie stars
• [28:01]–[29:05]: Strong criticism of football calendar expansion—concern for player welfare
• [30:22]: Culture of suppressing the player voice
• [34:23]: Thoughts on MLS and soccer culture in America
• [35:50]: Details on the Red Bull model—focus on infrastructure and youth
• [37:42]: Red Bull’s identity—energy, youth, innovation

Conclusion

Jurgen Klopp’s first major sit-down since Liverpool offers a rich, unfiltered look at his relief and renewal in leaving frontline coaching. He’s honest about the personal cost of top-level management, reflective on football’s growing pressures, and unwaveringly candid about the business of modern football, faults and all. With characteristic charisma and sharp wit, Klopp remains, as ever, a vital, passionate voice for football’s present—and its future.

For more, read Adam Krafton’s full article on The Athletic.