Comparison with a Bayern Munich icon: Lothar Matthäus weighs in on the DFB debate surrounding Joshua Kimmich
Lothar Matthäus has no understanding for the debate surrounding Germany captain Joshua Kimmich. He also makes a clear demand of Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp.
"Kimmich is leading the way as captain with his experience - and above all with his performances. I don't even know why Kimmich is being debated," Matthäus wrote in his Sky column. For the Germany record international, the 31-year-old midfield strategist is "indispensable for Bayern Munich and the Germany team".
Kimmich put in a decent shift as a lone No 6 in Klopp's 4-3-3 system against the Netherlands, and Klopp even called him "the best German player". He then followed that with an unfortunate display in the defeat against Greece. Although, as captain, he understandably wanted to stay with the team, Kimmich still had to leave as planned as part of Klopp's first squad.
Rather than backing Kimmich, Klopp added fuel to a debate around his captain that had already started to flare up with his flippant remarks ("I can tell Jo this: the more often you ask, the less likely you are to get what you want."). With Alexander Pavlovic in Kimmich's role as the deep-lying No 6 and Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz in the half-spaces, Germany played much more attractively against Serbia and in Greece than before.
Jürgen Klopp praises Joshua Kimmich for his chipped balls
"Some critics say Kimmich plays the ball sideways and backwards too often," Matthäus explained, drawing a historical comparison with a Bayern Munich icon. "But where did Bastian Schweinsteiger used to play the ball? He had 180 touches in midfield, but in Bayern's tiki-taka game back then, not much often came off going forward either. Kimmich doesn't just play sideways or backwards, he also creates danger further forward with his chipped balls. At club level and in the national team."
Despite that strong defence of him, Matthäus also wrote in his column that Kimmich has "no free pass" and, like fan favourite Deniz Undav, who was not called up, "no buffer either". "The performance principle applies to everyone, and if Kimmich does not perform the way Klopp envisages for his style of play, then he has a major challenger in Aleksandar Pavlovic, who was among the best against Serbia and in Greece and comes from Bayern Munich."
Beyond the Kimmich debate, Matthäus said Klopp must find a "core group of 15 to 17 players he can rely on" before the next international window in mid-November. Germany then travel to Serbia and host the Netherlands to round off the Nations League league phase.
