Jürgen Klopp's DFB squad: Sometimes form is crucial

Jürgen Klopp seemed comparatively relaxed on his bar stool when he sat down in the dressing room for an interview on the DFB campus on Thursday. Instead of a group of journalists, only press spokeswoman Franziska Wülle for the association's own TV station asked questions. Despite all his nonchalance, the national coach assured that it was difficult for him to nominate his 24-man squad for the last Nations League group games against Serbia in Belgrade (November 13th) and against the Netherlands in Berlin (November 16th) "because - and that's actually the good news - more players deserved to be there. But that's how it should be."

At the same time, the 59-year-old proved that he is not dogmatic. The Bundesliga is not full of classic center forwards with reliable odds. If someone like Niclas Füllkrug scores twelve times in ten games in the Bundesliga and DFB Cup, he has to return to the group of the best. "He has scored a wide variety of goals. He has an incredible influence at Werder Bremen," praised Klopp.

Although the 33-year-old is experiencing his third spring on the Weser, the national coach had given the impression that a return made no sense for reasons of age. A misunderstanding. “I’m not so happy with all the statements I made in half-time interviews,” admitted the 59-year-old.

Klopp said he contacted Füllkrug after his appearance on the ZDF sports studio. “It was a pleasure to make the decision and a pleasure to share it with him.” If the European Championships were tomorrow, he would take “fullness” with him straight away because: “Sometimes form beats everything else…”

Klopp's squad combines perspective with pragmatism. “We have a colorful mix of very young and quite experienced members in the team.” Of course, many of the surprise guests from early autumn are missing - such as Mika Baur and Bambasé Conté - but there are still 13 players who were not responsible for the World Cup embarrassment in North America. With two wins, the Nations League quarter-finals should be reached in March 2027. That would also be important in order not to have to play against a big player like Spain or France in qualifying for the 2028 European Championship.

It starts in the goal, where “Marc-Andre ter Stegen starts the games as number one”. This key position is about “great stability” and the Ajax Amsterdam goalkeeper has “the most experience”. Representatives are Alexander Nübel and Jonas Urbig. In central defense, Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck are a well-rehearsed team, with Waldemar Anton, Malick Thiaw and, surprisingly, Finn Jeltsch, who Klopp thinks so much of in the “long term” that he would like to try out the 20-year-old from VfB Stuttgart on the right, as backup. “He’s a very dynamic, smart guy.”

At headquarters, Klopp relies on a “small Bayern block” with captain Joshua Kimmich, Aleksandar Pavlović and Tom Bischof. This part of the team requires “physics with technical skills – and a bit of goal threat wouldn’t be bad either.”

This is what surprise guest Wael Moyha stands for. “There are not many 17-year-olds who play in the Bundesliga, that alone is an outstanding feature,” said the national coach, who had “three conversations” with Moyha, all of which were “top.” Klopp said that it had been agreed with the family that “we would just take him to see him.”

In attack he chose the Freiburg discovery Derry Scherhant and Said El Mala because he was “getting to know the playing field in a new position” in Cologne. Younes Ebnoutalib from Frankfurt convinced him as a “positive surprise in the first camp”. Regardless of the unrest surrounding him, Lennart Karl, whom Klopp praised as a “top talent”, is also there.