More than two years after leaving Liverpool, Jürgen Klopp is ready to take charge of the German national team for the first time. As is his way, he has decided to begin this new chapter in an unusual, or at least unexpected, fashion. For the four Nations League matches his team will play between September and October, he has called up no fewer than 44 players, dividing them into two separate squads of 22, each assembled for two games. The decision is also linked to the changes to the international calendar: from this international break onwards, the matches that until last year were played in mid-September and mid-October will be brought together, meaning that each national team will now play a maximum of four games in a single 16-day window, from 21 September to 8 October.
In any case, Klopp has chosen to do things differently. And on a large scale: as mentioned, his 44 players are split into two groups of 22. One will play the Netherlands and Greece at home, with Ter Stegen, Tah, Musiala and Havertz among those selected; the other will face Serbia and Greece away, with Adeyemi, Wirtz and Woltemade included in the second squad. “Putting the team together was fun,” the Germany coach said at the press conference where he announced his selections. “We took a slightly different approach. It’s very unusual to play four games, but we want to win all four. So we didn’t think in terms of an A team or a B team. The aim is to get as many impressions as possible of the players we have available.”
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Klopp also revealed at the press conference that, as several German media outlets had reported, “there really was a list of 57 players, then another one of 60”. He was rather less forgiving when it came to the people responsible for the squad lists being leaked outside the national team setup: “I don’t care that the lists came out early. I have absolutely no problem with that. I just find it a little pathetic to make a living by leaking confidential information before people actually need it.” As for Musiala, Gnabry and Schlotterbeck, who have been included for the first two-match spell, Klopp explained that they “will stay with us for the whole period, even if they may not play against Serbia and Greece. They’ve had some problems in recent weeks and we’d like them to train with their teammates so they can find their rhythm”. There is one small curiosity, too: the only player included in both of Klopp’s squads is Finn Dahmen, the 27-year-old Augsburg goalkeeper who has yet to make his senior debut for Germany.