Oliver Mintzlaff talks about Jürgen Klopp’s role in the Rose-Aus

Red Bull boss reveals

Jürgen Klopp had so much to do with the change of coach in Leipzig

Before the DFB Cup semi-final against Stuttgart, RB Leipzig replaced coach Marco Rose with Zsolt Löw. Now Oliver Mintzlaff explained the decision – and what Jürgen Klopp had to do with it.

With his famous white grin, Jürgen Klopp took a seat on the stands in the Stuttgart Arena. After the 4-2 victory over Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga in January, the DFB Cup semi-final against VfB was the second time that the new “Global Head of Soccer” of the Red Bull Group looked at a game of lawn ball sport Leipzig in the stadium.

For Leipzig, the game was particularly special because of the sporting relevance. It was also game one after Marco Rose. After the 0-1 defeat against Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend, the Leipzig managers decided to relieve the trainer before the important cup game. The former assistant coach of Thomas Tuchel, Zsolt Löw, takes over the fortunes on the sidelines until the end of the season.

Before the game in Stuttgart, Red Bull Managing Director Oliver Mintzlaff on the ZDF microphone explained the change of coach. “You have to say that the conviction was missing that we were not there, and of course also moving into the cup final, the goals we set ourselves to qualify for the Champions League again,” he said. The decision had been matured for a long time and had been hoped for a long time to create the permanent reversal of trends under Rose, but in the end the performance would not have reflected the potential of the team.

“Of course it is easy to relieve the trainer and I personally take the whole club into your obligation,” said Mintzlaff. However, the coach is the weakest link in the chain, which you then go out to put a new impulse.

Now Löw, who has actually been working under Jürgen Klopp since the beginning of the year as “Head of Soccer Development” in the Red Bull Group. But what role did Klopp play in Löw’s commitment? “Of course, Jürgen helped, that is already clear,” said Mintzlaff. Leipzig’s managing director Sport Marcel Schäfer made the actual decision to dismiss Roses. He was the one who in the end was responsible for sporting business.

“I am a supervisory board and of course like to be available for advice because I also managed the club for many years as managing directors. Then with Mario Gomez and Jürgen Klopp we have two absolute experts, which of course also draws Marcel back,” said Mintzlaff the structure in Leipzig. Klopp’s opinion is of course heard and have influence, but the decisions make Schäfer.