Germany’s Winners and Losers From The First 4 Jurgen Klopp Matches

Germany’s Winners and Losers From The First 4 Jurgen Klopp Matches By Ben McFadyean. Four Nations League matches, just one win: The new German national team coach Jürgen Klopp’s record is sobering after the 0-0 draw in Greece. Klopp, however, emphasises his team’s progress and the quality of the newcomers: “These guys are brimming with talent.” Time to look at the winners and losers of the first international matches of the Klopp era: The fourth international match under the new national team coach on Sunday ended 0-0 in Thessaloniki against a revitalised Greece. The Champions League-winning coach with Liverpool, on an optimistic note, speaking at the Press conference, said: “Three games without a loss.” A Klopp, who on the other hand also famously liked to be known simply as: ‘The normal one ‘, says: “Three games without a win.” The only victory came in the 2-0 win over Serbia in the Allianz Arena. Greece may only be ranked 41st in the FIFA World Rankings, but it didn’t stop them from spoiling the Stuttgart-born coach’s home debut a week earlier in Augsburg (0–1). What’s more disconcerting, however, is that Germany failed to score a single goal across more than 180 minutes. An air of pessimism has returned to the home of the Bundesliga – at least for now. Before kickoff at the 28,000-capacity Toumba Stadium, the home of PAOK Thessaloniki, Klopp offered an initial assessment of the nearly two weeks he has spent with his selection of players: “This training camp really involved a lot of hard work, but we gained plenty of information on the players, and it was a lot of fun.” The ever-effervescent coach underlined the potential: “This selection of guys is brimming with talent.” However, on reflection, the results haven’t quite materialised yet. Still, the new Bundestrainer remains convinced that things are heading in the right direction: “We have a clear vision in the coaching team, so everything is heading in the right direction.” The 2026 World Cup, in which the side were eliminated in the second round, was the third in a row in which Die Nationalmannschaft have underwhelmed. The outcome? Shooting star Julian Nagelsmann, who many regarded until then as the future of football management in Germany, was forced to step down after little more than 2 years. A very short stay at the helm of the national team, where the average tenure has been 6 years. Nagelsmann’s stay only exceeded the shortest ever, that of Erich Ribbeck between October 1998 and June 2000, by little more than a year. Whilst the results on the pitch were largely unacceptable, what really brought the former Bayern Munich coach down once more was his brittle personality. In particular, Nagelsmann’s refusal to acknowledge his mistakes – deadly in a culture in which humility is regarded as a virtue. Under the former 1860 Munich defender, the setup at the national team felt tense and deadlocked a lot of the time. With Jürgen Klopp, the DFB finally has the candidate to restore the lustre of the 4-time World Champions, or so many believe. The big question now is who will make the cut in November? The former defender turned striker is regarded by many as something of a saviour for the German game, but even he “cannot bring success overnight”, as Klopp himself has pointed out at the press conference when he was introduced on 24 July. The two rosters with a colossal 44 selected players will go down in DFB history as a never-before-seen assessment centre: a seminar in the art of Klopp-style footie. But after 4 games in what many cynics regard as a largely irrelevant tournament, does Die Nationalmannschaft stand now? Klopp himself remains upbeat. This national team coach enjoys a level of trust unlike almost any of his predecessors—even the failure to overturn the home loss in Sunday’s return fixture against Greece isn’t held against the 59-year-old: “I’m very satisfied because I know where we’ve come from in recent years, the guys played an incredible game and had an outstanding first half—except that we didn’t convert our chances into goals,” Klopp said at the late-night press conference in Thessaloniki. The ongoing search for a top striker continues, but Klopp’s credo remains: “these guys aren’t that bad!” His takeaway after one win against Serbia, a draw in each of the games against the Netherlands and Greece, and of course a loss to Greece emphasises the positives: “We’ve shown that we can perhaps do certain things better than people currently think and that they gave us credit for, even I wouldn’t have thought that this kind of football was possible with this group at this point.” The popular coach, who won back-to-back Meisterschaften with a BVB side, which remains the youngest ever team to win the German title, between 2010-12, flips the narrative in his favour: “We’ve taken the first step, and I’m super happy about that. We’ve already found the path; now we just have to set out on it.” There is plenty of work ahead to get the side to the 2028 European Championships, which for the first time take place across the UK and Ireland. That journey starts in the weeks leading up to the DFB team’s next get-together in mid-November, before the away game in Serbia. That is followed by a home game in Berlin against a Holland side who will put up stiff resistance, three days later. For now he must decide which players from the 44-man squad have fallen through his sieve, and who has made the cut, during this first experimental period. The Winners The issue of the goalkeeper has loomed large since the retirement of Manuel Neuer after this summer’s World Cup. Marc- Andre ter Stegen, Alex Nübel, Finn Dahmen and Noah Atubolu were all called up; the latter two did not get playing time. From the selection, the clear winner appears to be Jonas Urbig (23), Neuer’s backup and heir apparent at FC Bayern, who shone against Serbia and Greece: “Normally, national team players get playing time at their clubs,” Klopp said, “but it’s different here. With us, it’s all-inclusive”, Klopp explained about his selection of a keeper who only made 20 appearances across the 25/26 season. However, Klopp emphasised that the outstanding performances don’t reveal who will be the future number one. Urbig has earned himself a spot in the upcoming matches in November. It is expected that only three goalkeepers will be nominated. Urbig has a slight edge and momentum working in his favour, especially if he can establish himself, as is expected, with the Rekordmeister. In defence, Freiburg right-back Philipp Treu played in three of the four matches and impressed with his tenacity, commitment and rigour in one-on-ones, willingness to run, and attacking drive. “I didn’t get the impression that he was new to the set-up,” Klopp said of the 25-year-old, adding: “He did a great job, playing with real panache at right back. Top result—it was a lot of fun watching him.” A Bayern Duo as a Breakout Discovery in midfield: With regular captain Joshua Kimmich absent, Klopp once again relied on the Bayern duo Tom Bischof (21) and Aleksandar Pavlovic (22). Against Serbia, both exuded confidence, courage, and control. Pavlovic, in particular, was “omnipresent,” according to Klopp, who also backed his commitment: “He was our engine room and acted like a leader.” Bischof also impressed with his goal-scoring threat from deep, netting the opener at the Allianz Arena. Florian Wirtz (23) is another performer who stood out. The Liverpool player enjoys considerable freedom in his preferred playmaker role and shone against Serbia with his creative flair and a goal. Freiburg left winger Derry Scherhant (23), who also made his debut in the win over Serbia, impressed with his high work rate and drive toward goal. This gave him a clear advantage over Kevin Schade of FC Brentford and Stuttgart’s Chris Führich. The Losers If Jonas Urbig is the winning goalkeeper, then his fellow goalkeepers Marc-André ter Stegen (34) and Alexander Nübel (30) aren’t. They each played only one game—especially ter Stegen, the returnee, who wasn’t named the clear number one following Manuel Neuer’s retirement, looks to have fallen down the pecking order. Since Bischof and Pavlovic have both impressed, it’ll also be tough for BVB’s Felix Nmecha (25) to lock down a spot in central midfield at this time. The same goes for Jo Kimmich (31). But he has a major advantage: he’s captain and plays a crucial leadership role at Bayern. Why would Klopp voluntarily sideline a world-class player just because his style doesn’t perfectly match the new national team coach’s philosophy? Who could come in in November? Over the last four matches, the German national team scored a meagre three goals—what’s more, none by a Striker. Nick Woltemade (24) had some tough luck in front of goal against Serbia. Jonathan Burkardt (26) was unlucky, having his well-taken goal in Greece ruled out for a disputable handball. Arsenal’s Kai Havertz (27) picked up an injury in Amsterdam but will remain in contention. Frankfurt’s Younes Ebnoutalib (23) made his debut as a substitute and started in Augsburg but looked out of his depth at this level. The striker issue remains a paramount one to solve for a Germany team that over the decades had gotten used to the luxury of an excess in this position but has struggled in the past decade since the retirement of Miroslav Klose. One Centre-forward who may well make a comeback is unconventional Attacker Deniz Undav (30) of VfB Stuttgart. The former Brighton & Hove Albion player can likely expect another chance with the national team in the coming internationals—provided he starts finding the net more regularly for Die Schwaben . In terms of Borussia Dortmund, the national team has famously never produced record numbers of Dortmund internationals; the prospects are good for a returned-to-fitness Nico Schlotterbeck (26) who remains one of the top players in his left-back position. For BVB’s other call-up, Waldemar Anton (30), the competition in the back line remains fierce. Many expect the appointment of a former BVB manager, only the second after Ribbeck in the role, to bring renewed opportunity for the Westfalen; one who has a BVB connection who can hope is Paris Brunner, who shone not just with his two goals but with the depth of performance in the clean sweep of two wins out of two in this month’s U21s qualifiers – the quality in the 2025 European finalist side, including the championship’s top scorer (10 goals) Nicolo Tresoldi, is yet more grounds for cautious optimism for the DFB.