Jürgen Klopp sees 44-player squad as reason for renewed optimism in German football

Jürgen Klopp sees 44-player squad as reason for renewed optimism in German football Jürgen Klopp has pushed back against the pessimism surrounding the German national team’s player pool, arguing that his first weeks as Bundestrainer have instead revealed considerably more talent than he initially expected. Germany emerged from the World Cup with familiar questions over the depth and quality available to the senior national team. Klopp acknowledged that those doubts were hardly confined to the outside. “And it was also the case that, after the World Cup, one had the feeling that German football was way down at the bottom,” Klopp said while explaining the thinking behind his first squad. “One felt that we didn’t have a lot of players and talent.” “Over the course of the last four weeks, we’ve discovered that we have a lot of talent,” Klopp continued. “To be honest, we have so much that there’s many that aren’t even here. It was fun to put together this squad, I can’t put it any other way. We took a different approach. We didn’t look at what we didn’t have, but what we had.” Klopp focuses on what Germany has Klopp repeatedly returned to one principle while discussing the selection process. That approach required significantly more than studying familiar names. Klopp spent much of the last month traveling, meeting players and watching them live. The process changed some of his own assumptions after nearly a year away from the Bundesliga. “I want to get to know as many players as possible during this time,” Klopp said. “I’ve been on the road quite a bit over the course of the last month. I’ve met a lot of players personally and the difference from what I initially thought of them is rather large. This owes something to the fact that I’ve been out of the Bundesliga for 11 months.” “It makes a big difference for me when it comes to developing a feel for a player if I see them live,” Klopp continued. “I simply want to see more players live.” Klopp emphasizes the importance of chances in life “When it comes to certain [new] players, there are certain things that are especially important in life,” he said. “Everyone wants to develop themselves, but everyone sitting here [in this room] is sitting here because you were given a chance in this life to do what you love. “You had to get the chance, but you also had to take advantage of the chance,” Klopp continued. “It’s precisely that way in football as well. We have a few lads with us that will surprise you. I understand [if it surprises you initially]. We see something in these lads. “We see in them a lot of potential and want to be alongside them as they develop,” Klopp concluded. “That’s why we added some new faces. Tomorrow, the U21s will be announced and there are also a lot of great lads in that. There’s also a lot of U16s and U17s that we were pleased with.” No ‘A’ and ‘B’ squads, Klopp insists “This isn’t a matter of having an ‘A’ squad or a ‘B’ squad,” Klopp said when commenting on potential hierarchy conclusions stemming from the two squads. “We want to win all four matches. The two teams are structured so that they fit together well and are balanced with new players and more experienced ones.” That balance also allows Klopp to manage individual circumstances. Nico Schlotterbeck, Jamal Musiala and Serge Gnabry are all returning from injury problems and will remain with the national team across the full two-week period. “We want to keep them for the full two weeks in order to help them get in rhythm,” Klopp explained. “This also includes the opportunity to play in the [second two] games.” Klopp returns to theme of optimism Klopp revealed that he held extensive discussions with Germany U21 head coach Antonio Di Salvo and his staff over which players would benefit most from joining the senior group and which should remain with the U21s. “I had long conversations with Toni and his coaching team,” Klopp said. “We talked about who is better for the U21s and who should be with us. There were plenty of players who could have come to us. That’s the kind of quality we have. To turn potential into quality is the mission we have.” That is a notably different starting point from the mood surrounding Germany after the World Cup. Klopp is not claiming that every weakness has disappeared, nor that an oversized first squad somehow solves the problems that have followed the national team through recent tournament cycles. He is making a narrower argument. Germany has more to work with than much of the recent discussion suggested. Klopp reiterated the point later in the press conference when reflecting on how unexpectedly enjoyable he found the selection process. “If you look back to our elimination at the World Cup, who would have thought that it would be fun to talk about German football?” he said. “I tell you it was cool and fun for me.” The 44-player group is therefore best viewed as an opening survey rather than a finished answer. “I’ve opened up the door to all players who have a German passport and passion to play [for this country],” Klopp said. “We’ve now begun the process of building this team for the future. This is the first step and not the last.” GGFN  |  Peter Weis