Klopp's 1st task? Prevent Red Bull's soccer empire from fizzing out

Jürgen Klopp's task running Red Bull's soccer operations got a whole lot tougher even before his first day at work.

The ex-Liverpool manager was announced in October as the drinks giant's new "head of global soccer" across its international soccer empire, but isn't due to start until Jan. 1.

In the meantime, that empire is crumbling.

Red Bull's showpiece club Leipzig has lost every one of its games in the new-look Champions League and hasn't won a match in the German Bundesliga since October. Losing 5-1 to Wolfsburg last week was especially bruising.

A cup win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday eased some of the pressure on coach Marco Rose, but his young squad's confidence still appears fragile.

Salzburg, the original Red Bull club, is a distant fifth in the Austrian league and has lost four of its five Champions League games. In the Brazilian league, Bragantino is 18th of 20 teams.

The sole bright spot is in the United States, where the New York Red Bulls play the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS Cup final on Saturday.

Klopp's workload mounts

Klopp said in October he saw his new role as being more of an "adviser" to coaches — "often the loneliest person at the club" — than a hire-and-fire executive.

That might be put to the test if Leipzig and Salzburg don't show some sustained improvement this month.

Leipzig has a chance to record a much-needed Bundesliga win Saturday against struggling Holstein Kiel, but getting a Champions League point against high-flying Aston Villa next week will be tougher.

Until recently, Rose seemed a good fit as Leipzig coach. He was born in Leipzig and won titles at Salzburg, and combined well with up-and-coming players like forwards Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko and on-loan midfielder Xavi Simons. With the team's recent form, there's been plenty of speculation in Germany about who might replace him.

The coaching situation at Salzburg is more personal for Klopp. Pep Lijnders spent six years as Klopp's assistant at Liverpool before moving to the Austrian team in May. Perhaps surprisingly, Salzburg also has a spot at the Club World Cup in the United States next year, and it will be the only club from the Red Bull group there.

There's been one change even before Klopp takes charge. Rouven Schroder left his role as Leipzig sporting director last week for a newly created position as "managing director for sport" at Salzburg. Officially, it's a promotion and brings more decision-making authority, though it also amounts to making Schroder a bigger fish in a smaller pond.

Klopp's given no sign he's keen to coach again soon — and his move has faced protests from fans of his earlier German clubs — but the Red Bull soccer empire has a history of backroom leadership stepping in when needed.

Ralf Rangnick coached Leipzig in two stints while also in a sporting director role and then moved to a role similar to Klopp's as "head of sports and development soccer" for the group.

Klopp on the sidelines again? It might not be impossible.

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