Deep Dive — Peeling back the curtain on the Red Bull corporate machine.
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Imagine leading a team back into the Champions League, you
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:secure third place in the Bundesliga,
you navigate a massive summer rebuild,
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:and your sporting director publicly
hails your ability to unite the squad.
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:You've done exactly what was asked of you.
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:And your reward?
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:You might be out of a job by the weekend.
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:That is the reality for Ole
Werner right now at RB Leipzig.
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:But the really crazy part?
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:The man tipped to replace him
just got relegated from La Liga.
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:Today, we aren't just talking about
tactics, we are talking about power.
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:We're peeling back the curtain on the
Red Bull corporate machine to understand
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:who really pulls the strings in Leipzig,
and why a massive internal clash
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:might be about to change everything
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:Welcome to RBL Talk, the premier
English-speaking podcast dedicated to
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:the beautiful, chaotic, and relentlessly
ambitious world of RB Leipzig.
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:It's 2:30 AM here in the studio.
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:The coffee is brewing, and whether
you are tuning in on your commute in
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:Germany, working late in the US, or
having your morning tea in the UK,
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:I'm thrilled to have you with me.
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:Today's episode is going to be heavy.
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:We're diving deep into the
structural labyrinth of RB Leipzig.
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:If you've ever wondered how the 50
plus one rule actually works or how
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:Leipzig legally maneuvers around it,
you're going to want to hear this one.
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:We'll break down the dynamic between the
supervisory board's grand vision and the
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:club management's day-to-day reality.
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:Then we'll head straight into the
digital terrace, hear your voices
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:on the Ole Werner situation before
I give my unfiltered thoughts
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:on the frankly baffling rumors
linking us to Martin Demichelis.
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:All right, let's get straight into it.
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:To understand why Ole Werner's job is
hanging by a thread, despite having the
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:full backing of our managing director
for sport, Marcel Schäfer, you have
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:to understand how RB Leipzig is built.
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:In Germany, the fifty
plus one rule is sacred.
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:It's designed to stop outside investors
from taking total control of a club.
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:The rule mandates that the club's
members, the fans, must retain
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:fifty percent plus one vote in the
professional football operation.
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:At clubs like Bayern Munich or Borussia
Dortmund, that means thousands of
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:fans voting on major decisions.
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:So how does RB Leipzig operate
so smoothly under a massive
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:corporate umbrella like Red Bull?
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:It's a masterclass in
exploiting legal loopholes.
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:Instead of opening up membership
to the public, RB Leipzig's voting
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:membership is strictly restricted.
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:We're talking about a tiny, exclusive
group of members, usually numbering
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:around two dozen, and historically,
almost all of them are directly employed
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:by or closely affiliated with Red Bull.
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:So technically and legally, the members
hold the majority voting rights over the
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:professional football company, the GmbH.
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:But in reality, the corporate
parent holds all the cards
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:Now, how does that translate
to the men running the show?
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:We have a two-tier board system.
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:On the ground, running the day-to-day
operations, you have the management
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:board, spearheaded by Marcel Schafer.
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:He oversees the squad, the
scouting, and the daily running
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:of the sporting department.
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:He's the guy at the Cottaweg
Training Facility every single day.
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:But floating above him is a
supervisory board, chaired by
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:none other than Oliver Mintzlaff.
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:And remember, Mintzlaff isn't
just looking out for Leipzig.
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:He's one of the top executives in
the entire global Red Bull empire.
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:The supervisory board is
the ultimate watchdog.
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:They don't pick the starting 11 on
a Saturday, but they control the
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:budget, approve the major transfers,
and crucially, they have the power to
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:hire and fire the management board.
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:This is where the friction happens.
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:Schafer wants to build something
sustainable with Ole Werner.
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:He looks at the data, he looks
at the third-place finish, and he
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:says, "We are on the right track."
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:But Mintzlaff, along with the global
sports director, Jurgen Klopp, and
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:technical director, Mario Gomez,
are looking at the global brand.
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:They demand a specific
high-octane style of football.
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:If they feel Werner doesn't fit
the global Red Bull identity, it
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:doesn't matter what Schafer thinks.
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:It's a classic corporate clash,
the regional manager fighting for
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:his guy against a global board of
directors, and usually, the board wins.
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:That brings us perfectly
to the Digital Terrace.
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:I put out a call to action across our
social media platforms and right inside
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:the Discord server because I wanted your
unfiltered takes on this entire chaotic
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:situation, and wow, you guys did deliver.
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:The terrace is completely split
down the middle, struggling to
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:balance the pragmatism of what
Werner achieved with the looming
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:corporate shadow of Martin Demichelis.
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:Let's go through these takes one
by one because you've raised some
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:incredible tactical and structural
points that we need to address.
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:First up, let's look at
our social media over on X.
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:Joel with username XTO Jebosa sent
a take translated from Polish that
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:actually leans into the optimism.
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:Joel says, "I'd give Dem Chellis a shot.
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:I saw him at River.
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:He did well.
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:In Malla Rocca, he did incredibly
with the team already relegated.
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:Very few chances.
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:Surely they've seen something we haven't.
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:I like his attacking play from the back.
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:Opportunity
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:Joel, mate, I appreciate the optimism,
and you're spot on about his style
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:of building out from the back.
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:That's exactly what caught the eye of the
analysts at Red Bull Soccer International.
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:But we have to be real
about the Malloroca stint.
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:Yes, the ship was already sinking
when he took over, but the
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:structural fragility didn't improve.
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:However, your point that
surely they've seen something
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:we haven't is the crux of it.
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:When you have Jurgen Klopp and Mari
Gomez driving the data analysis
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:behind the scenes, they aren't
just looking at the league table.
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:They are looking at
underlying tactical metrics.
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:They see the opportunity to
mold his philosophy into a
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:broader Red Bull framework.
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:But not everyone is
convinced by the profile.
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:LazJasMan jumped into the Discord channel
and took a fascinating middle ground.
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:He wrote, "I already wrote in the
Discord channel weeks ago that I think
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:a sacking would be the right way.
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:But honestly, I don't think
Demichelis is the right fit.
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:This replacement seems
kinda desperate or rushed.
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:The only better solution would've
been Glasner, in my opinion.
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:But I don't think that we'd
have enough pull for him."
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:I think you hit the nail right
on the head regarding the feeling
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:of this move, Laz Jazz Man.
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:It does feel rushed because
the public narrative was that
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:Werner had earned his safety.
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:If you're going to make a ruthless
change, the fans expect a slam dunk
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:appointment, and your shout for
Oliver Glasner, absolutely massive.
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:Glasner understands the Red Bull
system inside and out from his
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:Salzburg days, and his high-intensity
transition football is legendary
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:Plus, as we saw confirmed, he is
officially leaving Crystal Palace
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:at the end of his contract this
month, making him a free agent.
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:We wouldn't even have to pay a single
euro in compensation to get him.
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:But you are completely
right about the pull factor.
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:Glasner just delivered a golden era at
Palace, winning the FA Cup, the Community
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:Shield, and the UEFA Conference League.
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:His stock is through the absolute
roof right now, and he's being heavily
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:linked to massive jobs like AC Milan.
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:We have to be brutally
honest with ourselves.
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:Is returning to the Red Bull multi-club
system an attractive enough project for
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:him at this peak stage of his career?
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:And beyond that, after sweeping
three major trophies in England,
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:his salary demands have likely
skyrocketed well past what our
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:corporate structure is willing to pay.
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:That financial and structural reality
is probably exactly why the hierarchy
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:shifted focus so aggressively toward
a project manager like Demichelis
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:Then we have Nitroso, who is looking
at the actual performance on the pitch
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:this season and scratching their head.
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:Nitroso says, I don't really understand
why we're kicking Werner out.
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:He had a pretty solid season.
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:The rebuild from down form was very nice
and very rare for a few seasons now.
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:I would understand if we fired him for
a world-class or up-and-coming manager,
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:but I haven't heard of Demichelis
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:Notoroso, that point about the
rebound is incredibly important.
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:Historically, when Leipzig has hit
the mid-season slump in recent years,
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:the wheels have completely fallen off.
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:Werner showed real maturity by steadying
the ship, managing squad rotation, and
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:grinding out results to secure third.
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:For a lot of the fans, turning your
back on a manager who proved he
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:can handle a crisis just to bring
in a name that a lot of European
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:football fans aren't intimately
familiar with feels incredibly harsh.
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:It defies standard football
logic, and that's why the fan
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:base is feeling so uneasy.
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:And if you wanna talk about breaking
down the Demichelis myth, Ava did
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:not pull any punches in his reply.
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:Ava broke it down into three parts.
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:First, he acknowledges Werner.
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:He did a better job than I was expecting.
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:Losing our three most valuable
players and still getting one of
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:the best seasons ever is amazing.
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:But Diamande was a big
reason for this too.
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:But then he switches focus to Demichelis,
and this is where it gets spicy.
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:Thoughts on replacing him.
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:Rivers fans are impressed at his agent
because he has broken every locker
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:room that he has coached and did
shit in monetary with infinite money.
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:If RB wanted Demichelis' style,
then Marcelo Gallardo was
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:better at literally everything.
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:He's coaching in Arabia and one of
the best coaches in South America.
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:Ava is bringing the fire.
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:And honestly, he's tapping into some very
real concerns coming out of South America.
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:Demichelis' exit from River Plate
wasn't just about the results.
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:There were heavy rumors of friction with
senior players in the dressing room.
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:If he struggled to manage egos at River
and monetary, how is he going to handle
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:a young, highly ambitious, multimillion
euro dressing room in Leipzig?
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:And that Gallarado shout is fascinating.
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:Gallarado is a tactical heavyweight,
but here is the difference, Ava.
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:Gallarado is an autocrat.
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:He wants total control over
recruitment and club philosophy.
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:In the Red Bull structure, with
Klopp, Gomez, and Minslav steering
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:the ship, they don't want an autocrat.
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:They want a head coach who
will work within their system.
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:Demichelis is viewed as
someone who can be guided.
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:Gallarado would want
to run the whole show.
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:Now let's look at KS Murph, who
brought a brilliant analytical
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:perspective to the table.
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:He writes, "I personally
am against this decision.
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:Werner was given a target and achieved it.
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:For me, this earns him another season.
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:However, I will admit
having some questions.
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:Of all the big signings last summer,
Romulu, Harder, Maksimovic, Bakayoko,
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:Diamande, only one has been a success.
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:Is that because we signed bad
players or the coach was unable
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:to get the best out of them?
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:If the higher-ups intend to continue
to focus on signing youth, which
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:I expect, perhaps they do not feel
he is the coach to develop them."
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:KS Murph, you have just laid out
the exact corporate justification
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:that is likely being spoken inside
Oliver Mintslaff's office right now.
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:This is the absolute core of the issue.
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:Red Bull's entire business model
relies on buying players like Romelu,
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:Harder, and Maksimovic for modest
fees, developing them into superstars,
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:and generating massive asset growth.
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:If Yann Diamande is the only youth
player truly exploding under Werner,
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:the corporate accountants and
global directors start panicking.
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:They look at the millions of euros
sitting on the bench or stagnating,
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:and they blame the manager's
training methods or tactical system.
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:If Klopp and Gomez believe Werner's
tactical style is actively capping
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:the development and market value of
our young assets, then in their eyes,
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:keeping him is a financial risk,
regardless of whether he finished third.
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:It's brutal, cold way to look
at football, but that is the
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:reality of the multi-club model.
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:Finally, let's welcome our newest digital
terrace member, Tee Jae, T-E-E J-A-E, who
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:wrapped up the discussion beautifully.
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:Tee Jae said, "My thoughts on
Werner was that it wasn't the best
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:football to watch, but he was a young
manager, and I figured a couple of
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:seasons in he would find his feet.
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:Demichelis doesn't really seem like a RB
type of manager, but paying his release
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:clause, they must think that he's capable.
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:It's not like he was a
manager on the free market.
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:We actively sought out to sign him.
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:I'm trusting the RB hierarchy.
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:Maybe Nagelsmann can return one day
when he's done with the national team.
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:That's the dream."
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:Welcome to The Terrace, Tee Jae, mate,
and your second point is incredibly sharp.
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:The fact that Leipzig is willing to
actively pay a release clause to pry
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:Demichelis away proves this isn't a
passive, desperate choice of convenience.
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:They didn't just look at who
was sitting at home on the sofa.
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:They targeted his
specific tactical profile.
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:The hierarchy is definitely looking
to the future here, even if it feels
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:jarring to what we are used to.
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:As for the Julian Nagelsmann homecoming
dream, man, you and maybe the entire city
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:of Leipzig are holding onto that one.
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:If anyone could bridge the gap between
corporate ambition and fan passion,
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:it's him, or maybe even Marco Rose
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:From Joel's tactical optimism to
Ava's dressing room warnings and KS
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:Murph's massive point about youth
development, the terrace has completely
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:exposed the massive fault lines
running through this club right now.
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:It is an absolute pressure cooker, and we
are about to see who can handle the heat.
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:We're going to take a very quick
break, but do not go anywhere.
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:When we come back, we're looking
at the cold, hard numbers.
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:I'm giving you my unfiltered verdict on
the Demichelis gamble, and we'll unpack
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:exactly why this decision is forcing
Marcelo Schafer into the ultimate corner
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:Hey everyone, Justin here.
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:While we've got a quick breather,
I wanna take a second to talk about
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:the behind the scenes of RBL Talk.
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:As you know, this show is
fiercely 100% independent.
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:In fact, if you follow the RBL Talk
YouTube channel, you might have seen
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:the video I put out discussing this.
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:I was actually approached with an
offer to join the Talk Sport Fan
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:Network, and I turned it down.
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:I said no because I wanna keep
this community exactly what it has
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:always been, completely fan-driven,
completely unfiltered, and totally
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:free from corporate strings.
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:It is always just going to be me hitting
record at 2:30 in the morning to get
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:the show out to you every Wednesday
afternoon, fueled entirely by caffeine
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:and absolute obsession with RB Leipzig.
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:Staying independent means I cover all
the running costs for the show, like
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:the Captivate hosting fees and equipment
maintenance straight out of my own pocket,
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:and I'm completely happy doing that.
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:But a few of you have been
asking how you can help out.
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:If you ever wanna throw a few bucks
into the tip jar, there's a support
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:link right down in the show notes.
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:Please know that this
is entirely optional.
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:There is absolutely zero pressure, and
every single cent goes directly back into
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:keeping the lights on for the podcast.
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:Honestly though, the absolute best way
to support the show doesn't cost a dime.
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:Go check out that video on the YouTube
channel, hit Subscribe, and join us
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:over in the Digital Terraces on Discord.
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:It is the true heartbeat
of this community.
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:All right.
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:Break is over.
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:Let's get back to the hard data.
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:Welcome back to RBL Talk.
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:Now that the terrace has set the stage,
let's look at the hard, cold evidence.
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:If you're going to swap out a manager
who just brought Champions League
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:football back to Leipzig, the data behind
that decision needs to be airtight.
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:I've spent the morning digging directly
into the Sofascore managerial profiles
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:for both Ole Werner and Martín Demichelis.
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:When you pull up their data sheets
and look at them side by side, the
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:contrast is absolutely staggering.
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:It tells you everything about why
our front office is paralyzed by
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:this massive ideological divide.
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:Let's look at Werner first.
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:Over his entire career spanning
more than four hundred matches,
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:his average points per match sits
at a solid one point seven zero.
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:But look at his record right here with us.
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:Thirty-eight matches, twenty-three
wins, five draws, and ten losses.
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:That translates to an incredible
one point nine five points per match
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:in his debut season with Leipzig.
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:Let that number sink in, 1.95.
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:He took a squad that lost its three most
valuable assets last summer, hit his
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:target, finished third, and maintained a
60% win rate across the entire campaign.
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:By every conventional metric in
football, that data earns you a
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:contract extension, not a P45.
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:Now, if you open up Sofascore, it lists
Werner's preferred formation as a 3-5-2.
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:But if you actually watched us week
in and week out, you know the reality
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:on the grass was completely different.
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:Werner adapted.
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:He shelved his historical preference
and deployed a 4-3-3, essentially
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:all season to accommodate our squad.
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:So if Werner is already playing a 4-3-3,
which ironically aligns with the modern
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:tactical shift Jurgen Klopp wants to
see across the Red Bull network, why
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:are Klopp, Gomez, and Minslav still
pushing him toward the exit door?
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:Because the corporate hierarchy isn't
looking at the numbers on the whiteboard.
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:They are looking at
the nature of the play.
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:Werner's 4-3-3 this season
leaned heavily toward pragmatism,
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:structural security, and control.
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:It stabilised us, yes, but it lacked that
breathless, heavy metal, hyper-pressing
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:intensity that defines the global brand.
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:When you look at Demichelis' SofaScore
profile, his career average sits at 1.90
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:points per match, with an elite 1.98
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:at River Plate and a 2.03
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:developing youth at Bayern Munich 2.
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:His listed preference is a
front-footed aggressive 4-2-3-1.
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:K.S.
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:Murph made the ultimate
point on the terrace earlier.
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:Last summer, we dropped massive money on
Romelu, Harder, Maksimovic, and Bakayoko.
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:Under Werner's pragmatic implementation
of the 4-3-3, these dynamic vertical
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:profile players spent most of
the season struggling to adapt or
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:sitting on the bench, while Yann
Diamande carried the tactical load.
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:When the global team looks at the
data, they don't see a formation issue.
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:They see a development issue.
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:They look at Demichelis' history of
utilizing a high line, high turnover
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:4-2-3-1 with River and Bynes Youth,
and they believe he's the key
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:to unlocking those multi-million
euro investments on the bench.
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:They want an aggressive verticality,
and Werner's version of the
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:4-3-3 simply doesn't deliver.
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:But here is the massive gamble.
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:Proven his 1.95
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:points per match is sustainable in
the pressure cooker of the Bundesliga,
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:and he proved he could adapt his
tactics to fit the club's needs.
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:Demichelis' high line system might
look beautiful on a data spreadsheet in
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:corporate headquarters, but implementing
it midstream at a club where the
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:sporting director, Marcel Schafer, is
public backing the current guy, that's
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:a recipe for a locker room disaster.
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:Ava warned us about his past record
of fracturing dressing rooms, and
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:if he tries to force an unforgiving
high line on a squad that's built its
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:success on Werner's stability, that 1.90
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:career average could plummet fast.
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:Ultimately, this data comparison reveals
the ultimate truth about modern football.
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:Runs on the board.
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:He has the 1.95
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:points per match to prove he can win
here, and the tactical flexibility
347
:to play the system required.
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:But Martin Demichelis has the dogma,
And in the modern Red Bull Empire,
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:sometimes corporate identity matters
more than the actual points on the table.
350
:It is the ultimate gamble of data
versus reality, and it's putting
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:in a position where he might have
to compromise his own sporting
352
:principles to fall in line with the
global corporate mandate or risk
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:being on the chopping block himself.
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:And that brings us to the end of a very
heavy but incredibly important episode.
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:This club never sleeps and neither
do we Now I wanna hear from you.
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:For the next episode, I want your
takes on this power struggle.
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:What's your predictions before we start
the new campaign in just 60-odd days?
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:Will Marcel Schafer get the axe?
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:Will Jürgen Klopp's grand tactical vision
be with Demichelis or someone else?
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:You can send your thoughts via our
SpeakPipe link in the show notes.
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:You get up to five minutes of
audio to make your case, and I'll
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:play the best ones on the show.
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:You can also drop a comment directly
on Spotify or jump straight into
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:the Digital Terrace Discord.
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:The link is in the description, and
the tactical channels are open 24/7.
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:If you enjoyed today's breakdown,
please hit that subscribe button,
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:leave us a review, and share
the podcast with a fellow fan.
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:Hearing your voices on the Terrace
today is exactly why this show exists.
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:RBL Talk is and always will be
entirely free from corporate sponsors.
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:We have no agendas.
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:We answer to no gatekeepers.
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:This is just pure independent Leipzig
passion for the fans, by the fans.
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:I've been Justin Crozer, and
until next time, bye-bye for now