National football team: That’s what national coach Klopp says and that’s what’s behind it

“If you misbehave and don’t leave my family alone, I’m gone.”

Pfeffer had this warning right at the start of his statements. Klopp not only made it clear that he would unconditionally protect his private environment. Personal attacks like those recently made on his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann or England’s national coach Thomas Tuchel are a no-go for him.

Klopp also demonstrates his independence from office. He won’t be blackmailed. “The day you don’t want this anymore, you say so and I’m gone. Without compensation.” Klopp makes it clear: he will now set the rules. Everyone has to adhere to it. With reference to possible sporting criticism, Klopp also said that he would be happy to work on it if something didn’t work.

“Marc Kosicke (…) is my assistant trainer for strategy, development and innovation.”

Klopp brings his agent with him to the DFB. According to DFB President Bernd Neuendorf, this was non-negotiable. But who is this Marc Kosicke? And why does Klopp need him? The two have been working closely together for two decades. This relationship of trust is important. Of course, the 55-year-old is not a classic assistant coach. But he will have a lot of influence on the new concepts. He sat in the plenary session at the PK in Frankfurt. Nagelsmann also had a similar companion on his team in Benjamin Glück.

“Success is performance in relation to expectations. And we need realistic expectations.”

The comparisons with Spain, France and Argentina are already annoying Klopp. He knows that with his player material he cannot match the top nations and will not do so quickly. So he builds. There are no world champion announcements, only world champion dreams. He wants to give his selection the space to “overperform”. That creates energy. Defeats and setbacks are already priced in. Then the shock won’t be so big. This is how his football equation can be understood.

“I’ve experienced three times how successful football can change a city. And I think we can all agree that successful football can actually change a country too.”

Mainz, Dortmund, Liverpool. Klopp brought football euphoria to his place of work three times. Now it has to be an entire country, including the chronically pessimistic Germans. But the national coach is relying on the spark that he can ignite with his style. He knows that without positivism, without the special Klopp euphoria, he won’t get far. Otherwise he is like the Chancellor Friedrich Merz he mentioned, for whom, according to Klopp, good will has not been enough so far.

“I won’t distribute positions here or say where someone will never play again or where they will always play now.”

Joshua Kimmich at the back right or centrally? Klopp doesn’t want to get involved in this ongoing debate. Especially not now. He will have conversations and see what makes sense. He will resolve the individual debate about the DFB captain when the time comes. It’s not the individual questions that matter. But the system has to be right.

There were already answers: a back four, strong wings. These are the priorities. “Whoever is very good, has a lot of enthusiasm and gets a little better the moment they put on the jersey will get into the game,” said Klopp.

“That reminds me, Bayern don’t have to worry…“

Klopp treated himself to this little joke. In doing so, he dispelled the blatant prejudice that he would prefer players from Borussia Dortmund or RB Leipzig because of his past. This was recently speculated. Nonsense. The national coach will rely on the best players. And there are a lot of them in Munich.