Gaucho vibes in Amsterdam: Jürgen Klopp enjoys two quick successes on his Germany debut

Jürgen Klopp gave the Germany team new virtues and a promising right-back in his debut as national coach. In footballing terms, however, the 1-1 draw against the Netherlands still left plenty of room for improvement.

Without much of a footballing culture, but with a fierce willingness to push themselves to the edge of legality, and a genius in Lionel Messi, Argentina fought their way to the World Cup final. Others put it more bluntly: Argentina cheated their way there. They could not defend the title, losing to Spain in a final that was widely welcomed across the world.

Outside Argentina, the Gauchos won little sympathy with that approach. One German football sage still expressed his respect. "I prefer Argentina's style of play to what I am seeing from the German team at the moment," said Matthias Sammer, whose nickname is "Motzki". Unlike the Argentinians, he felt the repeatedly and disgracefully failing DFB team lacked the "absolute will to win". Even then, Sammer had identified Jürgen Klopp, famous for his motivational skills, as the ideal man to tackle that problem.

Sure enough, in Klopp's debut as Germany coach, the DFB team gave off a hint of Gaucho vibes. Need an example? Although Brian Brobbey went down in pain in the 32nd minute, the DFB team simply played on and shortly afterwards made it 1-0 through Felix Nmecha. The goal sparked a mass confrontation. The Dutch protested furiously, with Virgil van Dijk later calling it "a disgrace". Brobbey had to go off.

That behaviour from the German players was as legal as it was controversial. In the end, it stood as a sign of the new will to win. In an intense, hard-fought game full of niggles, Germany matched the Netherlands physically and mentally. Klopp praised the "passion", Jonathan Tah the "fire, intensity and energy", Joshua Kimmich the "commitment and will". It was an important step in the right direction.

Germany showed glaring deficiencies in defence

From a footballing point of view, though, that step was not yet visible. Least of all in the area Klopp had apparently put at the very top of the agenda. In preparation there had been "a major focus on defending", Kimmich revealed: "That is the basis and the easiest way to build a foundation." Two training days were clearly not enough to build that foundation.

In defence of all places, the DFB team showed glaring deficiencies, especially after the break. Time and again, the Dutch found huge spaces and good shooting positions. Without the ball, the coordination in the new central area around the deeper-lying Kimmich often fell apart.

All told, Germany allowed 22 shots, which combined for an expected goals value of 3.12. The DFB team were fortunate that van Dijk's supposed opening goal was disallowed after a VAR intervention.

After that, the hosts wasted several gilt-edged chances. Marc-Andre ter Stegen also produced several strong saves, making up for his weaknesses in possession and in commanding his penalty area. Even so, a debate may now be brewing over Klopp's provisional first-choice goalkeeper. In the end, it was close to a miracle that Germany only conceded the equaliser through Cody Gakpo in stoppage time.

Is Philipp Treu the answer to the search for a right-back?

Going forward, the DFB team initially looked purposeful through the quick wide men Karim Adeyemi and Kevin Schade. But after an encouraging first half, including the opening goal, very little else came in attack. In the end, they posted an xG value of just 1.5. Overall, a Dutch win would have been deserved.

Alongside those Gaucho vibes, Klopp can already claim a second quick success, and his name is Philipp Treu. The 25-year-old from Freiburg turned in a decent display against Cody Gakpo on his debut and even started the move for the 1-0. Treu may yet be the answer to the DFB team's years-long search for a capable right-back.

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