Germany’s first international break under new coach Jürgen Klopp had plenty of takeaways. The 59-year-old configured two different squads to test out, with each squad getting two games. Despite getting different results from the two groups, the former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund manager is not welcoming debates over which players should be prioritized yet.
“We can’t be happy about the performances of two young players—because they’ve done a really good job—without that turning into a story about what
it means for Jo Kimmich? That‘s the narrative that gets created: What does this mean for Jo Kimmich? It means nothing. Because Kimmich is a fantastic player. It doesn’t mean anything. I have a very positive view of this team. We have a very good mix in the squad. Tom and Aleks had a great game. Jo Kimmich wasn’t there. Felix Nmecha wasn’t there either, so I did not understand the debate,” commented Klopp on the debate around Germany’s midfield ahead of the game against Serbia (as captured by @iMiaSanMia).
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Now, there are two important perspectives here: the performances in the first international break and Klopp’s massive roster rotation to scout talent that can work with his philosophy.
Joshua Kimmich and Felix Nmecha were part of the squad for the first block of games. Germany drew 1–1 against the Netherlands and lost 0–1 to Greece. Nmecha and Kimmich did not do anything remarkable; they lacked chemistry, and overall, the team had difficulties with chance creation.
Aleksandar Pavlović and Tom Bischof were the midfield duo for the other two games. Playing for Bayern week in and week out clearly showed its impact, as this duo was much more in sync with each other and could add drive to the team. Germany looked great against Serbia, winning 2–0. The game against Greece was a frustrating draw as Ivan Jovanović’s men pulled out all the tricks of parking the bus and held Germany to a scoreless draw.
If one just looked at these games, it would be natural that Pavlović and Bischof certainly looked better and desired to set the initial hierarchy with the young Bayern duo on top. However, there are just too many factors that make such a conclusion weak at this point. Time spent playing together, overall team composition, and the opponent’s style of play make it necessary to allow more time before finalizing the starters.
Therefore, in Klopp’s eyes, this is less an affirmation for one player or another and more data for him to work with under his setup. Kimmich and Nmecha are fantastic players who the wily Klopp will no doubt find a way to extract the best out of. In the early days of testing the waters, the manager just wants to keep the experiment going and avoid unnecessary comparisons that don’t capture the full picture.
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