Jürgen Klopp was close to earning a victory in Amsterdam for his first match as Germany manager, but a late Cody Gakpo goal for the Netherlands saw that the former Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, and Mainz manager had to settle for a draw.
There was plenty of intrigue seeing Klopp back on the touchlines, this time leading a national team, and there were glimpses of what’s to come for a new-look German national team. Klopp used a bevy of different players, demanded intensity, and had his side implement
the high press, but there’s still quite a bit left to be desired. After all, Klopp only had a small handful of days to train with his first of two separate 24-man squads as a part of the 44 players he called up for the international break, and he’s already had to make alterations due to injuries to both Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala.
Marc-André ter Stegen, who Klopp has said is Germany’s number one keeper right now, put forth a class performance against the Netherlands, but there’s already going to be a new look for the next match.
Ahead of Germany’s second UEFA Nations League match of the international break against Greece in Augsburg, Klopp has confirmed that it will be Beşiktaş keeper Alexander Nübel who will be starting in goal. For Klopp, as he alluded to in the press conference previewing the match, this is purely rotational and nothing to do with ter Stegen’s performance against the Netherlands.
“Alex Nübel will play tomorrow. I heard that Marc [ter Stegen] was criticized, which surprised me. I thought he was outstanding. It’s true he misplaced a couple of passes, but I’m 0.0% critical of him. I’m very happy with his performance. The change in goal tomorrow has nothing to do with Marc’s performance,” Klopp explained from his press conference in Herzogenaurach (via @iMiaSanMia). Klopp had made the decision for the team to travel by bus to Augsburg on Sunday instead of the day prior to the match, thus the press conference having taken place in Herzogenaurach.
For Nübel, the match against Greece will be his first start for Germany since the 2-1 friendly win over Ghana back in March of this year in Stuttgart. Prior to that, he had not played for Germany since a 1-1 draw with Hungary in the Nations League back in November 2024.
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