"'They really took off today': an enthusiastic Jürgen Klopp explains the keys to the DFB team's convincing performance against Serbia"
A delighted Germany coach Jürgen Klopp said he was highly satisfied with his team’s performance after Germany’s 2-0 win over Serbia in the Nations League match.
"I told the lads before the game: I’ve coached a few matches in my life, and I’ve never seen a game that was bad when the counter-pressing went through the roof. And the counter-pressing went through the roof today," Klopp said after the final whistle on Thursday evening on ZDF, praising his players' work off the ball.
"We don’t want to go overboard now, but we had a very good opening phase and could have scored a few more goals from winning the ball back … The passes we played were crazy," Klopp added. The DFB team dominated throughout the 90 minutes, but after missing a string of chances they had to wait until the 39th minute for midfielder Tom Bischof to break the deadlock with the opener.
"The whole positioning in the penalty area is unbelievable. That’s what it’s about, having the courage," Klopp said of the build-up to the 1-0, before adding on the counter-pressing that is so central to his style of play and worked so well against the Serbs: "We can allow ourselves all the freedom, all the boldness, every risk, if we win the ball back together." Bayern star Bischof, meanwhile, joked after his first goal for Germany in his second international: "My knees already hurt from the knee slide. But I’ll take that, it was an indescribable feeling."
What did Jürgen Klopp say about the DFB team’s defensive display against Serbia?
He also singled out the back line, with the two centre-backs Waldemar Anton and Malick Thiaw at its heart: "The last line defended forward superbly. Off the ball it was outstanding and on the ball we simply played wonderful football," said the 59-year-old.
Outstanding Florian Wirtz, who had set up the opener, made it 2-0 just after the hour with a brilliant individual move to seal the first win under Klopp. "If you defend compactly, then you can put footballers on the pitch. The mix of football and attitude was top today. That has to be our benchmark. That is what we want," the new DFB coach explained, making clear that he will measure his players against this performance in future after the third match of his tenure.
Even though Serbia, the weakest opponents so far, had "not tested" his team "in certain areas", Klopp admitted, he was still convinced: "Our attacking actions with the counter-pressing are possible against any opponent."
Next up, the DFB team face a much tougher test on Sunday in the return match in Greece. The Greeks, who won the first leg in Augsburg 1-0 last weekend, drew 2-2 with the Netherlands on Thursday and lead the table in Group 2 of Nations League League A with seven points from three matches. Germany are currently third with four points.
