“That has never worked in my whole life”: Jürgen Klopp calls for patience in a debate surrounding the Germany team
The fact that Joshua Kimmich and Felix Nmecha have not yet functioned satisfactorily together in the first two internationals under Jürgen Klopp does not unsettle the new national coach in the slightest.
He said he fully understood that the make-up of central midfield in the Germany national team "is a big issue", but at Wednesday evening's press conference urged the public to show significantly more patience.
"I have been a coach in football for 25 years and after five days not a single double pivot has worked in my entire life. It doesn't work like that," Klopp stressed on the eve of his third match as Germany head coach, against Serbia in Munich on Thursday. The logical teething problems had "nothing at all to do" with Kimmich and Nmecha themselves, Klopp continued. "Zero. Nada. They didn't play in this constellation at the World Cup either. Jo played at right-back and Felix as a No 8. He is also a No 8, but at times he is a No 6."
That patience during a process he wants to start with the DFB team also means "not judging players immediately. (…) The coach is new and gets time, but the players do not get any more. How crazy is that? This sport only works through the team - and we have to develop that." Klopp added: "The lads want to play very good and successful football - and we will get there. The problem is that our development is taking place under the public microscope and is being judged every day."
What has the DFB team's midfield looked like in the first two matches under Jürgen Klopp?
In his international debut in the Netherlands (1-1) and in the disappointing 1-0 home defeat to Greece on Sunday, Klopp opted for Kimmich as the deeper No 6 in central midfield, with Nmecha as one of the two players around the captain. Nadiem Amiri filled the other half-position ahead of Kimmich in the Netherlands, then against Greece international debutant Bambase Conte was a surprise pick.
For those early problems, including in the No 6 and No 8 positions, Klopp reached for a vivid comparison: "If you put together a ballet - not that we are one - and after four days they are supposed to perform, then they run into each other. We didn't do that, just to make that clear," said the 59-year-old.
With neither Kimmich nor Nmecha in Klopp's second squad for the matches against Serbia and in Greece on Sunday, and both having already departed, the Germany head coach is inevitably forced to reshape his central midfield. Aleksandar Pavlovic, Vitaly Janelt and Florian Wirtz could start against the Serbs.
