Jürgen Klopp is ready to lead Germany to salvation, but he'll do things his way

AMSTERDAM -- Injuries, a controversial goal, and a late equalizer, alongside countless chest pumps and hugs on the touchline: welcome back to management, Jürgen Klopp.

Before kick-off, dressed in white trainers, black trousers and grey jumper, the ex-Liverpool manager and now Germany boss had enveloped his former captain Virgil van Dijk in a bearhug; Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo got the same treatment. It had been a long time in between games: 858 days between his final match in charge of Liverpool (a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers) and this one against Netherlands in Amsterdam.

Klopp had promised his first match would be lively, and the 1-1 draw certainly delivered plenty of venom. But he also warned that his story with the Germany national team wouldn't be a fairytale, and of course it had to be one of his former players who spoiled the ending.

After Felix Nmecha's 32nd-minute goal had looked to give Klopp the perfect start to his international career, Gakpo hammered home Netherlands' equalizer in the 91st minute. At full time, Klopp gave him another long hug; while also making the rounds to ensure all 23 of his Germany players received attention.

You could forgive Klopp for having some prematch nerves. But instead, despite the lengthy wait, he was back in his comfort zone; his mind and body went back into managerial muscle memory.

"It's our job to be 100% there and try to find a way to help," Klopp said after the match. "Nobody has to worry about me before this game -- it would be strange to stand out there and say, where's the pitch?"

But after stepping away from Liverpool in 2024 following nine years at Anfield to head up Red Bull's group of football clubs, how did Klopp get his dream job? And what did we learn from his first game?

A long time coming

"My whole life has prepared me for this job," Klopp said at his first squad unveiling.

He had long talked about managing Germany being the ultimate honor, but when the German FA (DFB) contacted him before, notably in September 2023 after sacking Hansi Flick, the timing wasn't right. Klopp wanted to turn Liverpool around after delivering the Premier League title (2020) and the UEFA Champions League (2019), so the DFB eventually turned to former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann.

Since Germany's 2014 World Cup success in Brazil, the Mannschaft failed to make it out of the group stage in 2018 or 2022 and while there were signs of progress under Nagelsmann at Euro 2024, where they lost to Spain in the quarterfinals to a 119th-minute winner, relations between the manager, his players, the DFB, the media and the watching public grew strained over the next two years in the buildup to the 2026 World Cup.

Nagelsmann's public demeanor changed and he appeared to be tying himself in knots. In March 2026, he gave an interview to kicker saying Oliver Baumann would be his No. 1 goalkeeper, but by the time the competition came around the 40-year-old Manuel Neuer had been reinstated. His tactics also confused pundits and fans, such as his persistence in playing Joshua Kimmich at right back when Bayern used him as a defensive midfielder, or how he used striker Deniz Undav.

"Nagelsmann was unbelievably stubborn, but it looked more and more like he was taking everything personally," a source told ESPN.

At the World Cup, Germany hammered Curaçao, struggled past the Ivory Coast, then lost to Ecuador in the group stage but scraped into the round of 32. Klopp watched on as a pundit for German streaming platform Magenta TV and, from a distance, the two worlds jarred a little. As Nagelsmann grew increasingly under pressure, Klopp was pitchside -- his big personality an omnipresent reminder of what Germany could have leading the team.

There was a faux pas on his part when he said during the opening match: "Fortunately Julian Nagelsmann is still picking the team -- for now." The "for now" part of his comment whipped up a social media frenzy and provided an unwanted furore for the rest of the tournament, and Klopp apologised to Nagelsmann directly.

But when Germany were eliminated in the first knockout round by Paraguay on penalties, there was only one choice for the DFB.

After claiming "we are not part of the first-class teams anymore," Nagelsmann resigned on July 4, and Klopp was appointed on July 24. But when he faced the press for the first time as Germany manager, the new boss had a clear message for the watching media: "If you behave badly and don't leave my family in peace, I'm gone. Criticize me if something doesn't work. I'm happy to work on it. It's all about the job."

Several figures in the room were taken aback by Klopp's bluntness, sources told ESPN. But alongside that warning, Klopp effectively handed himself over to the German people.

"Jürgen Klopp is not going to have any 'career' after the national team," he added. "This is the pinnacle, the absolutely high point of my footballing career as coach. I will give everything I have got."

Doing things his way

Against this backdrop, Klopp began putting his stamp on the job and surrounded himself with people he trusted.

First, Marc Kosicke, his long-term advisor, was appointed to a consultancy role as "assistant coach for strategy, development and innovation," with DFB president Bernd Neuendorf saying Kosicke would have "every access ... right up to my office."

Kosicke's role put several Bundesliga executives' noses out of joint, sources told ESPN, while, publicly, Bayern chief Uli Hoeness said it was "opaque" and added that it was a "friendly takeover" of the Germany national team by Borussia Dortmund.

There was an unavoidable Dortmund feel to the whole operation. DFB vice-president Hans-Joachim Watzke was instrumental in the appointment -- the two know each other well as Watzke was Dortmund CEO for 20 years until 2025, and helped Klopp develop his career after bringing him in from his first coaching job at Mainz in 2008 -- and Klopp also hired his trusted assistants Peter Krawietz and Pep Lijnders, alongside Sven Bender, who played under him at Dortmund.

Meanwhile, Hannes Wolf -- who worked with Klopp at Dortmund in the youth setup -- was already at the DFB as its director for young talent, training and development.

Before he named his first squad, Klopp drew up a list of 57 potential players, but one of his first jobs was to check whether he had a parking space at the DFB's headquarters in Frankfurt. His predecessors weren't necessarily frequent visitors there, but Klopp wanted to be a visible figurehead for the national team, both on the field and within the organization.

As the 2026-27 season arrived, Klopp popped up at various matches: he took in the German Super Cup match between Dortmund and Bayern, as well as Bayern's Bundesliga opening round 5-1 win over Stuttgart, Augsburg's 3-0 win over Schalke, Stuttgart's 4-1 triumph over FC Cologne, and he was also in the stands for Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-1 win at Mainz.

Eventually, Klopp settled on an expanded 44-man list for his first four matches of a three-week international break, split between two groups. Squad No. 1 would face the Dutch in Amsterdam and Greece in Augsburg, then squad No. 2 -- complete with Florian Wirtz -- would tackle Serbia in Munich and Greece in Thessaloniki.

The only player named across both was goalkeeper Finn Dahmen, while Klopp said defender Nico Schlotterbeck, midfielder Jamal Musiala, and winger Serge Gnabry would be with the group for the full two weeks and their playing time would be tailored to their fitness requirements. There were 16 uncapped players -- and Klopp said of all the calls he made, Hoffenheim's Bambasé Conté laughed for two minutes straight when he was given the news -- and one inclusion which caught the media off-guard: Celtic midfielder Mika Baur.

Despite it looking chaotic, Klopp brought clarity in his squad announcement and assured fans that Kimmich would play as a midfielder, saying: "A player like him has to lead the way."

Alongside that clarification, you could start to see what Germany would look like under Klopp. Barcelona's Marc-André ter Stegen (on loan at Ajax this season after falling out of favor) would be his No.1 goalkeeper; there'd be no man-marking in defense; and the team would play in his trusted 4-3-3 system -- the formation which underpinned his entire coaching career and was immediately instigated across the board in Red Bull's various teams when he took his role there.

When the 44 players met up in Herzogenaurach, the Klopp effect was already being felt.

"When Kloppo calls you, you have to go," Eintracht Frankfurt forward Younes Ebnoutalib, who picked Germany over representing Morocco, said. "To put it candidly, after the conversation, a few tears came. Because I started thinking about where I was a couple of years ago. It's just crazy that things can proceed so quickly and that all that hard work and persistence paid off."

Freiburg right back Philipp Treu, another of the uncapped callups, said: "Because of his [Klopp's] relaxed and positive manner, and the way he smiles at you, you immediately think to yourself, 'He's a great guy, I really want to work with him.' That's how it was for me, too. You could immediately tell that I would go through fire for him.

"These days, people talk about this aura, and it was already there when he walked into the room. You naturally have a certain amount of respect for him, but that goes away because of his easy-going manner. He simply gives all of us a really good feeling."

A source said: "Klopp is human and that's good for the players."

Yet it was not all sweetness and light; there was also the reality of the hard work that Germany need to put in to get back on track. As a result, Klopp has instilled some non-negotiable guidelines: players must arrive on time for team dinners, phone use has been curtailed, players need to have any haircuts done before camp, and there will be smaller windows for family visits during major tournaments.

If Germany are to repair the wounds of the recent past, things need to change.

A Dutch draw to open

Klopp didn't promise to win trophies in his news conference before the game against Netherlands, for whom his opposite number Xavi was also taking charge of his first match. Instead, what he did guarantee was his Germany side would be the "best version" of themselves, and that this would be a team with more urgency than previous incarnations.

Ahead of kick-off, a giant tifo declaring "Welkom Xavi" and the various montages interspersing Johan Cruyff and the former Barcelona midfielder were reminders of whose house this was, for tonight at least.

But the Germany fans -- some wearing the commemorative jersey from the 1990s -- were excited. Many didn't want to draw comparisons between Klopp and his predecessors but were united in their reasons for optimism. "He's successful," was the blunt justification from one fan; another simply said: "He's the normal one."

Of course, plans never run smoothly. Musiala was a late withdrawal, while striker Kai Havertz was forced off due to injury after half an hour. A chaotic first half saw the Dutch have a Van Dijk header ruled out for a foul on the outstanding Ter Stegen, while Germany's opening goal courted controversy as Netherlands felt Germany should have put the ball out due to Brian Brobbey's injury, but Kimmich had other ideas -- sending in a perfect crossfield ball which eventually led to Nmecha opening the scoring. Klopp was his usual animated self on the touchline when Karim Adeyemi had an outstanding chance to make it 2-0, but missed from yards out.

In the second half, the Dutch wake up. Mexx Meerdink had another effort from the hosts ruled out, then missed from a few yards out. But they battled away and as the game increased in venom, Gakpo eventually found the equalizer as he volleyed home Ruben van Bommel's perfect cross two minutes into added time.

At full time, Klopp walked over with his players to thank the pocket of travelling Germany fans. His trademark fist pumps and subsequent cheers were nowhere to be seen just yet. Perhaps that's reserved for milestone wins. Or perhaps he'll have something new for the national team.

Either way, seeing him back on the touchline will bring a sense of joy to neutral fans and those who follow Germany will be starting to believe that their years of issues could be behind them.