Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Jurgen Klopp is still waiting for his first win as Germany manager after being handed a surprise defeat against Greece on Sunday.
Klopp’s national team debut was spoiled by Cody Gakpo last Thursday, and he was dealt a further blow by another of his former Liverpool players as Kostas Tsimikas and his countrymen rode to a 1-0 win in Augsburg.
The game saw Florian Wirtz come off the bench for his first appearance under Klopp, with Liverpool supporters desperate for their legendary old manager to work some of his magic with their struggling No. 7. However, on the evidence of the first step, that is not going to happen straight away. He may have only been on the pitch for 25 minutes, but according to the German media, Wirtz did not play well.
Wirtz struggles to make an impact against Greece
The game was locked at 0-0 when Klopp decided to introduce Wirtz, bringing him on for Hoffenheim’s Bambase Conte in the hope that he could provide the quality needed to win turn the game in Germany’s favour.
Instead, things took a turn in the opposite direction, with Dimitrios Kourbelis grabbing the winner 10 minutes after Wirtz was brought on.
While the Liverpool star could not be held accountable for Germany conceding, German outlet Sport1 declared that he did not exactly help them either. Scoring him a 4/10, they claim that Wirtz ‘failed to initiate a single German attack.’
They also refer to a clip of the 23-year-old which has quickly gone viral after match, where he lines up a shot from the edge of the box and puts it so far over the crossbar that it goes out of shot of the camera.
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Wirtz also looked to be off with his passing, with another clip showing him overhitting a fairly routine through-ball which could have put Nathaniel Brown in down the left. That was one of six misplaced passes he delivered during his short time on the pitch.
Meanwhile, Fussball News summed it up fairly well, claiming that it was ‘unfortunately another unlucky performance’ from Wirtz. Choosing not to give him a rating out of 10 was perhaps a mercy for the former Bayer Leverkusen man.
There have been plenty of big expectations over what Wirtz and Klopp’s time together can bring, and there should still be hope that, in time, the pair can help to get the best out of each other, thus benefitting Liverpool. Wirtz’s confidence is clearly shot, though, and that will not change overnight.
This could have been better, clearly, but there is no need to go overboard. Germany still have two matches left of this elongated international break, and the hope will be that, by the end of it, Wirtz will start taking those small steps towards long-term and permanent improvement.