Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has taken responsibility for Germany's 1-0 home Nations League defeat to Greece, leaving him winless after two games in charge.
Jurgen Klopp's Germany suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Greece in the Nations League
Jurgen Klopp's Germany suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at home to Greece in the Nations League(Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Jürgen Klopp has shouldered responsibility for Germany's 1-0 home defeat to Greece in the Nations League. Dimitris Kourbelis netted the solitary goal of the match as Liverpool's former boss remains without a victory.
Klopp, 59, was held to a 1-1 draw in his opening fixture in charge against the Netherlands on Thursday, following a 92nd-minute leveller from Cody Gakpo in Amsterdam. The Dutch subsequently claimed a 2-1 triumph over Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday, relegating Germany to third place in Group A2.
The Germans will now welcome Serbia before travelling to Thessaloniki for a rematch with Greece, rounding off Klopp's first international break at the helm. He spoke candidly following their defeat in Augsburg.
Klopp said: "With all the changes I made, the defeat is of course on me. It's obvious that we were not going to win this game by a big margin against such a deep-sitting opponent - but we shouldn't lose games like this one either.
"The Greeks basically only played long balls. We have to defend that better."
Nevertheless, Klopp identified reasons for optimism, saying: "We're a newly put-together team, and we keep showing moments where we understand each other well – but it can also go the other way, as we saw today. We couldn't execute our plans today."
He also conceded that it remains early days in his tenure. Klopp said: "Football needs training, football needs routines. We don't have enough of that yet."
Reflecting on his career, the German remarked: "I've lost many more games in my life than I wanted to; I can deal with it. After games like this, you just have to draw conclusions and get better." Klopp added: "I prefer a bad start to a bad ending."
Florian Wirtz (L) looks on with team mate Karim Adeyemi during a Team Germany training session
Florian Wirtz joined up with the Germany squad early and featured in the defeat against Greece(Image: Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Liverpool attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz was introduced as a substitute less than 10 minutes before Greece netted the match's solitary goal on Sunday.
Ahead of the fixture, Klopp said: "We have to make sure that Flo feels comfortable with us and can fit into what we want from him. With us, hopefully, he can simply be Flo.
"We can't do more than we're doing here, namely, build him up in our team with enough training and playing time.
"Bit by bit, give him certainty, a good feeling, and then send him back to Liverpool. I wish him all the best."