While it’s not the end of the world, Jürgen Klopp’s start to life as the German national team manager has not exactly lit the pitch on fire. Admittedly, the 1-0 loss to Greece in Augsburg was a much more difficult pill to swallow than the 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Amsterdam after losing Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz to injuries, but Klopp still would have wanted more than a single point from those two Nations League matches.
Now, with this new-look extended international break, Klopp has two
more chances to get things right while assessing the second group from his 44-man roster. While fans want results, this break is as much a learning opportunity for Klopp to evaluate different players as it is a chance to restore the country’s faith in the team.
With that said, the next two matches against Serbia and Greece will see a plethora of new faces and Bayern Munich’s Jonas Urbig could be in line for a start at the Allianz Arena.
Per information from SID (via @iMiaSanMia), the Bayern keeper is expected to join Klopp for the press conference previewing the Serbia match in Munich. With Urbig being the player selected to join Klopp in the press conference in Munich, it’s a strong indication that the keeper will be the one to start in goal against Serbia ahead of Noah Atubolu and Finn Dahmen, who are also in the second of two Germany squads for this break. It’s not often that a player is in the press conference with the manager and then doesn’t play outside of unique circumstances, so this could be a massive opportunity for Urbig on his home turf for Bayern.
While he has been in Germany’s senior squad before, starting against Serbia on Thursday would be Urbig’s first appearance and start for the national team – a massive milestone for the 23-year-old that’s going to eventually become the number one keeper at Bayern.
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