Germany coach Jurgen Klopp expressed satisfaction and positivity after the goalless draw (0:0) against Greece in a match of the Nations League tournament. Despite winning only 5 out of 12 possible points during this international window, the 59-year-old specialist emphasized that he sees serious progress in building the renewed German squad.
„I'm very happy because I know where we started. I'm extremely impressed with the team. To be honest, I'm more pleasantly surprised than disappointed. I didn't believe we were capable of playing such a first half. The boys put in an incredible performance – top level in every respect, except for the fact that we didn't convert our chances into goals and didn't see a better positioned teammate in the final third of the pitch“, analyzed Klopp immediately after the final whistle.
The coach also pointed out the reasons for the decline in the Bundesliga's play in the later stages of the match.
“We broke down a little around the 60th minute and our movements lost their sharpness. However, we only played three days ago and it is extremely difficult to maintain such a pace for the full 90 minutes against a strong team like Greece. Our counter-pressing worked perfectly 90% of the time. The problem is that in the remaining 10%, when it doesn't work, things on the pitch can get complicated“, added the German.
During the past camp, the coaching staff tested a huge number of players. Klopp, however, did not spare criticism of the skeptics.
„We have seen a lot of players in these two weeks. Everyone has shown what they are capable of and deserved their place. Think about all the things people have said about us - what we can and cannot do. However, we have given clear signs that we can do some things much better than they have given us credit for. The door is open to absolutely everyone. Wide open“, the specialist also shared.
The German coach revealed that the experiments are coming to an end and the squad for the next official matches in November will be drastically reduced.
„Now we will calmly analyze the past two weeks, and in five weeks we have two more international matches ahead of us, but with a reduced squad. Of course, we will not travel there with a group of 44 players. "The door remains open for everyone, but if someone is not called up next time, they should know that the reason is not that they are not good enough, but simply because we have to limit ourselves to 23-24 players," Klopp concluded.