How Klopp’s first game in charge of Germany went: 1-1 draw with the Netherlands, two injuries, a goal amid controversy and plenty of uncertainty
Jurgen Klopp’s official Germany debut ends with a win over the Netherlands.
In the end, as ever, it's the result that counts. Germany's new era under Jurgen Klopp began exactly as the previous one ended, without the win they needed to keep hold of the smiles shown to the press on the eve of the match.
Against the Netherlands, it ended 1-1, with Nmecha's goal heavily criticised. Germany still struggled badly for long spells, and the new Oranje side led by Xavi had no fewer than two goals ruled out before Gakpo's late equaliser.
That big difference from the side that crashed out of the last World Cup so badly under Julian Nagelsmann has not yet appeared, despite several team selections that raised eyebrows. The old problems, especially at the back, are still there.
Injuries
Klopp had no luck with his early selection calls or the first 30 minutes of the match. Jamal Musiala pulled up injured in the warm-up and had to make way for Amiri. Then, in the 30th minute, striker Kai Havertz raised the white flag with a muscle problem, forcing the head coach to send Ebnoutalib on straight away.
The line-up choices
Marc-André ter Stegen was back in goal and is rebuilding his career at Ajax, but he still did not look at his best, especially when dealing with high balls. Freiburg right-back Treu and Brentford winger Schade remain the most intriguing new faces in the line-up, along with the introductions from the bench of players such as Eintracht's Ebnoutalib and Leeds' Stach. In midfield, Nmecha and Kimmich remain the certainties, while Inter's Yann Bisseck was only on the bench.
The criticised goal
Germany sat back as the minutes ticked by after Nmecha's 32nd-minute goal, scored amid Dutch protests because earlier in the move Xavi lost Bryan Brobbey to a muscle injury. He went down in the middle of the pitch with a hamstring strain.
With the forward on the ground, Germany initially slowed the move and convinced the Netherlands to stop. Once they realised the referee would not blow his whistle, the Germans accelerated. Adeyemi swung in a cross from the right and, after a scramble in the box, Nmecha applied the decisive finish for 1-0.
Dutch dominance
Adeyemi did squander a sensational chance with an open goal after a superb vertical counter-attack, but the Netherlands controlled both the play and the match. The final shot count finished 22 to 10 in favour of the Dutch, with 12 corners to 1 and 3.11 expected goals for Oranje compared to the Germans' 1.50.
Meanwhile, Van Dijk and his team-mates had two goals ruled out, one early on from a corner taken by the Liverpool defender himself and another in the second half in a goalmouth scramble by Meerdink. A well-positioned ter Stegen then made several saves, one with the help of the post, as the Dutch attackers kept testing him.
Early goal and defensive difficulties
The result looked set to hold, but the introduction of a lively Van Bommel caused Germany real problems, especially down the right. And while ter Stegen got down well to keep out the first curling effort late on, the former Barcelona goalkeeper could do nothing about Gakpo's right-footed volley in space, set up from the left by Marc's son.
The defensive issue remains the same: a back four that stays far too static, with two deep-lying centre-backs in Tah and Schlotterbeck. That is exactly where Klopp will have to focus his work in the coming outings before trying to add more attacking threat.
