German football expert Matt Ford tells the story of Rose’s career so far and explains Klopp’s part in it
Following the announcement that Marco Rose will replace Andoni Iraola as Bournemouth head coach this summer, German football expert Matt Ford takes a closer look at his career.
There are three things which have always been central to the professional life of Marco Rose: his home city of Leipzig, his mentor Jurgen Klopp and Red Bull.
And so, when the 49-year-old succeeds Andoni Iraola as AFC Bournemouth head coach this summer, returning to work 17 months after leaving Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, he will be entering uncharted territory – but he will be bringing his aggressive, high-pressing football and emotional man-management style with him.
Marco Rose: humble beginnings in East Germany
When Rose was born in Leipzig in 1976, the city was still part of the former East Germany (the German Democratic Republic or GDR) – and Bournemouth had just been relegated to the fourth division of English football.
He joined Lokomotive Leipzig’s youth system in 1987, the year the club’s first team reached the final of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. Also at “Lok” at the time: Uwe Rosler, a fellow East German who would go on to star for Manchester City in the Premier League in the 1990s.
By the time Rose made his own professional debut, Germany had been reunited and Lok had been renamed VfB Leipzig, but it was at western German side Mainz 05 where he established himself as a Bundesliga 2 left-back – particularly under the coaching of Klopp, with whom he celebrated promotion to the Bundesliga in 2004.
Rose is embraced by Klopp after a Mainz 05 match in May 2003
“We had a really special time together there,” Rose recalled. “We were all so proud of our achievement and I’m still in contact with ‘Kloppo’. We see each other, speak on the phone, exchange messages and support each other.”
Twenty years later, however, Klopp would make a less positive intervention in Rose’s managerial career.
Back to Leipzig: Rose’s first steps in management
Rose’s first steps in management came back at his boyhood club in Leipzig, where VfB Leipzig, having gone into administration, had been refounded as Lokomotive Leipzig again and climbed back up to the fourth division.
Rose kept the fallen giants in the league, where they remain today, but a new power had emerged in the city with the 2009 arrival of Red Bull and foundation of RB Leipzig.
The Austrian energy drink company quickly spotted Rose, who continued his coaching development with Red Bull Salzburg’s youth sides before eventually becoming first-team head coach there in 2017.
Rose won two Austrian Bundesliga titles and reached the semi-final of the UEFA Europa League in 2018, but it was a 3-2 win away at “sister club” RB Leipzig the following season which put Rose on the map.
“This was a special victory for me,” said Rose after his team had dismantled Ralf Rangnick’s Leipzig in the first half.
Salzburg beat Leipzig at their own aggressive pressing game before scoring a late winner, after a brief comeback by Rangnick’s team which had exposed the defensive frailties of Rose’s side.
The following season, Rose became head coach at Borussia Monchengladbach, leading the “Foals” to the last 16 of the Champions League for the first time since 1977.
However, he then infuriated fans by activating a release clause in his contract mid-season to join rivals Borussia Dortmund where, despite hopes that he would replicate Klopp’s “heavy-metal” football at the club, he only lasted one year.
Dortmund finished second in the Bundesliga but suffered early exits from the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.
Chief among the reasons for Rose’s departure was a leaky defence, with Dortmund letting in 52 goals in the Bundesliga alone and suffering heavy defeats to Ajax (0-4, 1-3) and Rangers (2-4) in European competition.
Back to Red Bull: Rose’s first trophy at RB Leipzig
For Rose, it was back to the roots: back to Leipzig and, controversially given his historic links to Lokomotive, back to Red Bull, as he took charge of the not-universally loved RB Leipzig in September 2022.
“Leipzig is my home,” he told the local Kreuzer newspaper. “I was at Lok when RB arrived in the city, so I wasn’t exactly ecstatic about it. But it was clear that the region needed Bundesliga football and most clubs in eastern Germany lacked the necessary means.”
In his first season in charge, Rose led Leipzig to a German Cup triumph – the club’s second major title and Rose’s first, thanks to goals from Christopher Nkunku (later of Chelsea) and Dominik Szoboszlai (now of Liverpool) in the narrow but attacking 4-2-2-2 formation favoured by Red Bull sides.
Rose’s style of play even brought compliments from the man he is now succeeding.
“Marco Rose’s Gladbach was one of my favourite teams,” Iraola told Revelo in 2023, before he joined Bournemouth.
“I like that football where the player does everything. The attackers press as defenders, central defenders drive forward and hold the last line. It is a very complete and tactical football. That’s why I liked Rose’s Gladbach, you could see they were well coached.”
In January 2025, Rose was reacquainted with his old mentor Klopp, who joined the multi-club Red Bull cosmos as “Head of Global Soccer”.
“I was surprised but also pleased,” Rose said of the appointment. “Now I have someone to speak to who has coached at the top level himself, who has experienced everything as a player and coach.”
Unfortunately, Klopp’s arrival coincided with an alarming downturn in form as Leipzig went on a run of only two wins in 11 games.
Klopp initially secured a stay of execution for Rose, but ultimately authorised his former player’s departure following a 0-1 defeat to Monchengladbach in March 2025.
It was Rose’s last game in management until Bournemouth offered him a chance to fulfil a long-held ambition of working in the Premier League, where he will hope to fit in well with his attacking style and engaging personality.
“I’m an emotional person,” he told the Kreuzer. “If there’s something important to say, then I’ll say it, but it’s important to work together and my players and staff know that my office door is always open.”