Mainz, Germany /
Jürgen Klopp was criticized by the fans of his former team Mainz on Saturday after he opted for join energy drink company Red Bull to supervise their soccer clubs.
Mainz fans held banners during the Bundesliga match against Leipzig – which belongs to Red Bull – referring to their former player whom they considered a hero.
“Did you forget everything we gave you?”they asked with a giant banner behind one of the goals. This is in reference to his emotional farewell message after 18 years at the club as a player and coach in 2008.
⚠️ Mainz 05 fans have displayed banners criticizing former coach Jürgen Klopp’s decision to join Red Bull:
“Have you forgotten everything we made you become? Are you crazy?” ????
Another banner also displayed an old Klopp quote: “I like people up to the point where they… pic.twitter.com/xdvgiQUnJM
— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) October 19, 2024
“Are you crazy?” they asked with another banner with a play on words using the coach’s name and the word “bekloppt”, which means crazy. While another message said: “I like people until they let me down.”
October 9 Red Bull announced that Klopp will become the head of global football in January and will oversee the company’s network of clubs, including Leipzig, Salzburg in Austria, New York Red Bulls, Bragantino in Brazil and Omiya Ardija in Japan.
Red Bull also has a minority stake in Leeds, which is in the English second division. In addition, it was recently announced that it will become a minority partner of Paris FC of the French second division.
After leaving Mainz in 2008, Kloppe has enjoyed success as coach of Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, helping them end their 30-year title drought in England.
FCM
