The Nations League group stage is turning out to be very different than anyone could have expected.
Germany were putting up dissatisfactory performances — performances that were uncharacteristically poor, even with the fact that the team was in a rebuilding phase. The loss against Greece painted the picture of a team that was too broken to be fixed anytime soon, but much to everyone’s surprise, Germany had a comeback and beat Serbia 2-0.
The game has a lot to learn from, primarily on squad selection.
The youth players stunned and brought crucial goals. Speaking on what he liked about the performance, manager Jürgen Klopp could not help but confess everything about the performance was perfect to him.
“Everything. The opening phase, the middle part, and the end,” he gushed (per @iMiaSanMia).
“Our positioning in the penalty box was incredible. Having the courage to do that: we can take all kinds of liberties and risks when we win the ball back together. Everyone was there in our pressing moments,” he went on.
“The back line defended brilliantly on the front foot. We were outstanding without the ball, and with the ball we played wonderful football. That has to be our baseline. Whether we can always reproduce that remains to be seen,” he stated. In all fairness, it would certainly be believable that this game indeed is Germany’s baseline. They are clearly capable of producing this and more.
“This game goes into my archive. It’s the next step in our development. We’re learning, after all. Learning under pressure,” he declared.
You cannot deny, Klopp is a terrific speaker. And that was a fantastic game from Germany.
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