BERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) – When Germany coach Juergen Klopp walked off the pitch in Thessaloniki just before midnight on Sunday he knew that one win in his first four international matches in charge was hardly living up to the euphoria of his appointment, but he has noted that progress had been made since their disappointing World Cup exit.
Germany fans had been hoping for an immediate impact when the hugely popular former Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund coachtook over in July following another early World Cup elimination.
Apart from a 2-0 win over Serbia last week, however, results have been disappointing with a home defeat by Greece before Sunday’s 0-0 draw and a 1-1 draw with the Netherlands in Group A2.
“Overall, it was evident that many aspects of their game weren’t quite clicking yet,” said Germany’s 1990 World Cup-winning captainLothar Matthaeus. “It was clear that the young players thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Unfortunately, the points we got were not at that level. We cannot be satisfied with the points haul.”
Germany are third on five points, with the Dutch and Greece top on eight. The Germans did, however, look more aggressive than in recent years, playing at timesKlopp’s trademark high tempo attacking game.
“I am very satisfied because I know where we’ve come from,” Klopp said following Sunday’s game, the last of the set of four internationals this month.
“I wouldn’t have believed we could play a first half like that after just one week. The lads put in a top-notch performance; their movement and positioning were outstanding.”
RAISED EYEBROWS
The 59-year-old had raised eyebrows and earned widespread praise when henamed 44 players for thefour matches — all Nations League games — with two separate squads of 22 players for two matches each.
He called up 16 newcomers as he sets out to restore the four-times world champions international reputation.
“I am very impressed with the team and the way we went about it. Everyone stepped up over the past two weeks and justified their selection,” Klopp said. “When we defend collectively like that, the lads can really play football.”
Defender Philipp Treu and winger Derry Scherhant were among those newcomers who made strong debuts.
Germany, under Klopp’s predecessor Julian Nagelsmann, suffered a shock round-of-32 loss to Paraguay at the World Cup in June, their third early exit following first-round eliminations in 2018 and 2022. The Germans last won the World Cup in 2014.
Klopp knows that wins must start coming more frequently when they travel to Serbia on November 13 and host the Dutch three days later if they are to stay in contention for a top-two finish.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing byu Ed Osmond)
