"A couple of weeks ago we were saying German football is in the cellar." Jürgen Klopp said it himself — and after one win from his first four games in charge, the cellar door hasn't fully closed yet.
Germany drew with the Netherlands, lost to Greece at home, beat Serbia, then drew again with Greece on Sunday in Thessaloniki. One win. One loss. Two draws. Not exactly the reset a nation that's won four World Cups was dreaming of — but Klopp, predictably, is spinning it as progress. And genuinely, he's not entirely wrong.
The Greece result is the one that stings
Losing 1-0 to Greece in Augsburg last week was Germany's first-ever defeat to them. That's not a minor footnote. Greece haven't been a European force since their astonishing Euro 2004 win, and yet here they are, both beating and drawing against a side that views itself as global football royalty. It's a sobering reality check — and for anyone pricing up Germany's Nations League group odds, it should give real pause.
Klopp's response was to call up 44 players across two squads, handing debuts to 10 of them. Freiburg's Philipp Treu started three of the four games at right back after making his debut against the Netherlands. That kind of trust in untested players is a deliberate signal: perform in the Bundesliga, and you'll get your shot. It's refreshing. Whether it's enough is a different question entirely.
Florian Wirtz captained the side and drew praise from Klopp, as did Freiburg winger Derry Scherhant. The squad depth is suddenly real in a way it hasn't been for years. "We now have alternatives in many positions," Klopp said — and for a team that's spent years recycling the same faces, that matters.
The hard decisions start now
The feel-good phase of experimentation is over. Germany face Serbia away on November 13th, then host the Netherlands in Berlin three days later. The squad gets smaller, which means genuine selection calls — Aleksandar Pavlović versus Joshua Kimmich in midfield, Marc-André ter Stegen versus Jonas Urbig in goal. These aren't small debates.
Germany was knocked out of the World Cup by Paraguay at the first knockout stage, which ended Julian Nagelsmann's tenure and handed Klopp the keys. The underlying problem — a decade of underperformance from a nation that still expects to compete for everything — doesn't disappear because a popular coach arrives with energy and a big squad list.
"We've taken the first step," Klopp said after Sunday's draw. That's accurate. It's also just one step.
