Dr. Constantin Eckner has offered a measured but critical assessment of Jürgen Klopp’s first international break as Germany head coach, pointing out that the early results have fallen short of expectations despite the unusual circumstances surrounding the squad.
Eckner is a German football analyst, journalist, and tactical commentator who has written extensively about the Bundesliga, German football, and the tactical side of the sport. His analysis frequently focuses on the structure and underlying
performances of teams, rather than simply looking at results.
That makes his assessment of Klopp’s opening two matches particularly interesting.
“First of all, historically speaking, it was the worst start for any German national team head coach ever. It is only the first two games but one point out of two games is a bit of a disappointment, although it was known that by picking 44 players for the first international break and basically splitting the best players up into two squads, you couldn’t expect high-level performances,” Eckner told Casino.at. “That’s, of course, something to be expected, but still, you thought there might be a bit more of a tactical change, might be some changes, at least to an extent, being visible, but it wasn’t the case. Performance against Greece looked very much like what we saw from Germany at the US World Cup and in previous times, basically, a lot of all process, over 75%, slow, plodding build-up play, not much attacking threat, and then in the end, even conceding a goal against a fiercely defending team in Greece.
“Even though Germany are working progress right now, you would expect a little bit more. What Jürgen Klopp told at the press conference after the game was essentially that it wasn’t his players’ fault if they are losing right now, it’s his fault. So, he took a page out of José Mourinho’s book, for instance, right? ‘It’s my fault, the manager’s fault. Don’t blame my players.‘ So, he’s very much protective of his players, especially the younger ones and the debuts we’ve saw, because there have been a couple of players who made their first appearance for Germany now or who made maybe their second or third appearance for Germany.
“Josha Vagnoman and Philipp Treu are players who hadn’t played for Germany very much before. So, it is a work in progress, but I also believe that Klopp has some time, he has some leeway, he has a lot of credit because of who he is and what he has achieved, but at some point, results have to improve.”
There is certainly context behind Germany’s underwhelming start. Klopp called up 44 players and divided them into two squads, meaning the strongest possible Germany XI was never consistently available. Several players were making their international debuts, while others had very limited experience at this level.
Still, Eckner believes there were signs that should concern Germany supporters.
He specifically pointed toward the 1-0 defeat to Greece, arguing that the performance resembled some of Germany’s struggles under Julian Nagelsmann. The possession was slow, the build-up was predictable, and Germany struggled to consistently create meaningful attacking opportunities against a Greece side that defended deeply.
Klopp has also made it clear that he will take responsibility for the team’s performances. After the Greece defeat, he essentially told reporters that the blame should fall on him rather than his players, particularly given the number of young and inexperienced players involved.
Eckner acknowledges that Klopp deserves time and has considerable goodwill because of everything he has accomplished in football. But the honeymoon period will not last forever.
Germany may be a work in progress, but Thursday’s big 2-0 victory over Serbia appears to be a nice step in the right direction.
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