Joshua Kimmich has so far been the biggest loser in the Germany team under Jürgen Klopp – several winners were not even there
A total of 43 players, including a number of newcomers, were called up by Germany head coach Jürgen Klopp for his first international window. An overview of the winners and losers in the DFB team.
Jürgen Klopp had already done plenty of talking before his debut as Germany head coach. About what a great honour he considers the job to be. About wanting to restore lost national pride in Germany. About how his mission will take time but will surely, absolutely surely, lead to success. Also about the media, whose fundamental task as neutral reporters he evidently has not entirely understood. Klopp was far less specific, however, when it came to his personnel plans in the DFB team, saying that for now he first wanted to form his own impression of all the players.
On the goalkeeping issue at least, Klopp did take a position after Manuel Neuer's retirement by declaring Marc-Andre ter Stegen number one "for the moment". After the first four matches, that status already looks shaky again. The 34-year-old may have produced fine reflex saves in the 1-1 against the Netherlands, but he also showed glaring weaknesses when it came to commanding his area and with his passing.
While ter Stegen was not a loser after this display, Jonas Urbig clearly emerged as the winner afterwards. The 23-year-old was the only goalkeeper to receive two appearances. Against Serbia (2-0) and in Greece (0-0), Urbig made a more stable overall impression than ter Stegen had before him, kept two clean sheets and on Sunday evening spectacularly saved Georgios Masouras' header. If he really were to develop into Germany's first-choice keeper, that would create a curious situation, because at Bayern Munich Urbig is still only Neuer's understudy.
Philipp Treu could solve an eternal problem position
Debutant Philipp Treu is the biggest winner of Klopp's first international break. The 25-year-old right-back from SC Freiburg was the only professional to make three starts and delivered a thoroughly pleasing display in all of them. Perhaps Klopp has found the solution to German football's eternal problem position.
At centre-back, the two established figures Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck are under pressure. Yann Aurel Bisseck (25) and Malick Thiaw (25) can count themselves genuine winners after strong performances. With his robust tackling, Bisseck was Germany's only bright spot in the 1-0 home defeat to Greece. Thiaw stood out in the final two matches above all for his vertical passing in the build-up.
Then there is Finn Jeltsch, at least a minor loser. Klopp had surprisingly praised the 20-year-old VfB Stuttgart centre-back in glowing terms beforehand at his squad announcement press conference, but then did not use him at all. Aside from Jeltsch, only Max Rosenfelder, Felix Keidel and Ridle Baku among the fit outfield players were left without a single minute of action.
Nathaniel Brown also comes out of the international break as a loser. After his Germany breakthrough at the World Cup and the subsequent €50 million move to Bayern Munich, the 23-year-old's rapid rise has been halted for the time being. Brown started the first two matches but failed to convince. His advantage is that Klopp's alternatives Maximilian Mittelstädt and David Raum were only slightly better and did not make any real case for themselves either. The battle for the spot now appears open again.
Joshua Kimmich is the biggest loser of the international break
For Joshua Kimmich, Klopp's first international break could hardly have gone much worse. The starting position for the 31-year-old initially looked extremely promising. Klopp first confirmed Kimmich as captain and moved him from right-back into central midfield. Kimmich played decently as a lone No 6 in Klopp's 4-3-3 system against the Netherlands, but then produced an unfortunate display in the defeat to Greece. Although, as captain, he understandably wanted to stay with the team, Kimmich had to leave as planned.
Rather than strengthening Kimmich, Klopp fuelled the debate around his captain, which had already begun to flare up, with flippant remarks ("I can say this to Jo: the more often people ask, the less likely it is they'll get what they want."). Added to that: with Alexander Pavlovic in Kimmich's role as the deep-lying No 6 and Tom Bischof as well as Florian Wirtz (three clear winners), the DFB team played far more attractively against Serbia and in Greece than before. Suddenly the captain is no longer beyond dispute.
Kimmich's midfield partner from the first two matches must also feel like a loser. Felix Nmecha did score against the Netherlands, but once again revealed major weaknesses in his defensive play. Also a loser, albeit through no fault of his own, is Jamal Musiala. After recently finding form at Bayern Munich, Musiala had actually been due to start against the Netherlands, but he suffered an injury in the warm-up and therefore missed the chance to present himself to the new Germany head coach. Klopp appears to see Musiala, like the now flourishing Wirtz, in one of the half-spaces in midfield, but competition there is likely to be particularly fierce because of the abundance of high-class candidates.
By contrast, Bambase Conte is a minor winner. The 23-year-old debutant from TSG Hoffenheim made three appearances as one of only five players and Klopp explicitly praised him above all for his pressing. And everyone knows: Klopp likes pressing.
DFB team: several winners were not even in the squad
On the attacking flanks, Klopp tested five different players in the starting line-up. By far the best impression came from Derry Scherhant. Both against Serbia and in Greece, the 23-year-old from SC Freiburg was a constant source of activity, his only shortcoming was a lack of precision with crosses and shots. The losers here are probably the biggest hopes for the future. The 18-year-old Lennart Karl and the 20-year-old Said El Mala both had surprisingly brief appearances and barely made an impact.
Up front, none of the nominated quartet of Kai Havertz, Younes Ebnoutalib, Jonathan Burkardt and Nick Woltemade convinced. In the end, they all left the DFB team goalless and as losers. The winners, by contrast, are those who were not there at all. The two exciting Under-21 strikers Paris Brunner and Nicolo Tresoldi, but also the crowd favourite Deniz Undav, who was ignored by Klopp this time.
