Confidant gone

Klopp: “Was not involved in Lijnders’ departure!”

Pepijn Lijnders, Jürgen Klopp(Bild: GEPA)

"I was not involved!" - As the new Head of Global Soccer at Red Bull, Jürgen Klopp may not play an insignificant role in the "Bulls" universe, but when it comes to one of the more recent important decisions, he insists he had nothing to do with it! With the departure of Pepijn Lijnders as Salzburg coach ...

It wasn't long ago that Klopp's long-time Liverpool co-coach and close confidant at Austria's runners-up had to step down after just six months. "I still know that he is an exceptional coach. But sometimes things just don't click in soccer."

"Sometimes things just don't click in soccer!"
He was not close enough to know the exact reasons. Just this much: "Qualifying for the Champions League was a fantastic day - but also part of the problem afterwards." Salzburg spent the winter in fifth place in the table, the worst result in the 20-year Red Bull era.

"We all consider ourselves friends!"
Klopp will only talk to Lijnders' successor Thomas Letsch in more detail after his return from the training camp in Portugal. He has a closer relationship with Leipzig coach Marco Rose and his best man Sandro Schwarz, coach at the New York Red Bulls.

Both were his players when he was first promoted to the German Bundesliga with FSV Mainz in 2004. "We all consider each other friends, still are," Klopp said of Rose and Schwarz. "Maybe that gives us a different starting point. You can be even more open than someone who doesn't know me."