Liverpool reaction to Klopp decision speaks volumes amid anger and criticism

This week's Blood Red column assesses Jurgen Klopp's new role at Red Bull and why not all football evils should be measured equally as the former Liverpool boss faces up to some criticism upon his return to football

Liverpool reaction to shock Jurgen Klopp decision speaks volumes amid anger and criticism

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Jurgen Klopp's decision to pitch up with the Red Bull group caught the attention this week. And, when there is an international break void that needs to be filled with content and column inches, the legendary Liverpool boss has been firmly in the firing line as a result.

"Dead to me" screeched one apparently irate Borussia Dortmund fan on a post from one prominent Reds-related social media account , while back in Germany, the 2020 Premier League winner was, somewhat unfairly, labelled as being "as fake as his teeth".

Fans of Liverpool's rivals, meanwhile, viewed this apparent defection as the gotcha they have been looking for all along; the smoking gun that proves beyond doubt that the guffawing, bear-hugging Klopp is not quite the virtuous everyman he always portrayed himself as.

The eagerness and zeal that some Liverpool-centric fan accounts accounts displayed in amplifying the faceless ire towards a former manager who gave them some of the greatest nights of their lives as supporters was also a disappointing element. But in a two-week gap without the current Premier League leaders in action to keep the content machine rolling on, it should probably be no surprise to see it filled by any means.

The rub here, of course, is that Klopp has never in fact pretended to be anything other than himself. The caricature that was broadly sketched of him during his time on Merseyside was irresistible to the wider media, particularly when Liverpool were winning and the megawatt smiles were lighting up Anfield, but the reality was different, even only slightly.

Anyone who dealt with Klopp on a closer and more regular basis, through the bad and indifferent times across those nine years, will attest that there was an irascible and combative side to him that was on show almost as much as the jovial parts of his character. The laughs were genuine, but so too were the dressing downs and disagreements.

In essence, Klopp is human and any apparent fall from grace, certainly in the eyes of supporters of clubs who have a rivalry with the Reds, is entirely in their own minds. The decision to work for the Red Bull, as their new global head of soccer - a title as syrupy as one of their energy drinks - is, to Liverpool fans at least, the equivalent of Alan Partridge shrugging on an internet meme.

The Red Bull catalogue provokes much fiercer opposition in Germany, where the company's sporting arm is viewed with suspicion over their lack of real heritage in football, and there can be no disputing the fact that Leipzig - their biggest success story in European football - is seen as entirely inauthentic by supporters in Klopp's homeland.

But the multi-club model is something that is becoming more prevalent in the modern game. So much so, in fact, that Liverpool's owners Fenway Sports Group are attempting to go down a similar route. It's not exactly a welcome development for many Reds fans but neither has it been cause to give back the season tickets and erect the banners of protest either.

It's telling that FSG waited until Klopp had announced his end-of-season departure to kick-start their efforts to add more clubs to the Fenway stable but the 2019 Champions League winner's new job has only been met with vague surprise that he is jumping back into football so soon after his emotionally-charged long goodbye at Anfield.

Again, taking the temperature of fans of other clubs, particularly in the online forum, is not the ideal gauge, but the criticism of Klopp this week has largely come from bad-faith detractors who would otherwise care little for Red Bull and the clubs under their umbrella across Germany, Austria, New York and Brazil.

In a world that seems increasingly desperate to plummet to new depths, where top-flight leagues are in courtroom battles with their champions and nation states with horrendous human rights records are allowed to own cherished community assets, Klopp always seemed to stand for more wholesome and traditional values, even if they were largely foisted on him by external forces.

To many, he is the football manager who earned a commendation from the World Health Organisation over his COVID-19 messaging, someone who dismissed notions of ever voting for right-wing politics and a native German who was prepared to stick his head above the parapet to talk down Britain's decision to leave the European Union. He was never anything other than himself and it's why he earned such admiration from certain quarters as a result.

All of that might explain why there are some whose disappointment of Klopp's new career move is genuine but in a sport that is becoming more and more detached from reality, not all evils should be measured equally.

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