The Germany players that Jurgen Klopp will take to another level: Wirtz, Woltemade… | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp appears to be on the verge of the German national team manager coach, but with the team worse than it has been for decades, which players can he improve?

The switch from club to national team manager removes the safety net of the transfer window and Klopp will have to work with what he’s got, even if this Germany team is far from the ridiculous talent it had 10 years ago.

With the former Liverpool boss in discussion to replace Julian Nagelsmann, here are five players he could improve.

Florian Wirtz

An obvious place to start is with Germany’s two brightest talents and while we will come on to Jamal Musiala later, we are starting off with Wirtz.

Since moving to Liverpool, the midfielder has struggled and even if his form with the national team has always been better than with his club, he is still not yet the player many had hoped to see.

As to how Klopp can help, Wirtz should look at how the German helped develop Philippe Coutinho from a wide midfielder into one that can play centrally and that may be a route he goes down with Wirtz too.

Under Klopp, Coutinho also upped his goal contribution, registering 13 in Klopp’s first full year.

For Wirtz, he should also be aided by the coaching of Andoni Iraola at Liverpool whose style is far closer to Klopp’s than Arne Slot’s is.

Nico Schlotterbeck

One of the big problems facing Klopp is Germany’s ageing defence. Antonio Rudiger is 33. Jonathan Tah is 30. In goal, Manuel Neuer is 40 and surely played his last tournament.

More than anywhere on the pitch, it is the back line most in need of refreshment and so Klopp could target Nico Schlotterbeck as the man to lead that.

The Dortmund defender is a fast 1.91m centre-back and, crucially for Klopp’s system, good on the ball. If Klopp can get Schlotterbeck to anchor his team like Van Dijk did with Liverpool, it will go a long way to improving the team’s fortunes.

Klopp may also be known for the way his teams attack but he does have history with improving centre-backs and Joel Matip is the primary example.

Jamal Musiala

At one point, Musiala was considered the brightest young talent coming through but a nasty leg break has made him look a shadow of his former self.

He was a passenger in Bayern Munich’s semi-final exit and scored just one goal with zero assists for Germany at the World Cup.

Getting him back to his best will be something both Vincent Kompany and Klopp will be extremely interested in.

As for how Klopp can help, sometimes a player needs confidence restoring and who better than the enigmatic German to be that figure for him?

Time will tell if there is a pre-injury Musiala and an after one but Klopp could be perfectly suited to install the belief back into the player.

Nick Woltemade

Woltemade has become a bit of a figure of fun given his high price tag and troubles at Newcastle but Klopp will know there is a player in there somewhere.

Ideally, Woltemade is a number 10 in the Dennis Bergkamp mould, the problem is that neither Newcastle nor Klopp’s previous teams played with one.

Perhaps then Klopp can do with Woltemade what he did with Roberto Firmino.

The Liverpool number nine played in a false position as he dropped deep and allowed Sadio Mane and Mo Salah to attack in the empty space. Woltemade certainly has the ability to do that because he is not clinical enough or quick enough to act as an out-and-out nine.

It is something that will depend on the wingers available to Klopp with Leroy Sane looking past his best but it is something that you could see working if Klopp believes Woltemade is good enough.

Aleksandar Pavlovic

A strong six was always crucial to Klopp’s Liverpool teams and Pavlovic ticks a lot of the boxes for what Klopp will be asking for.

He’s a defensive midfielder that can resist presses and control the play in the same way Sergio Busquets did in the past.

Klopp’s sixes have perhaps been a bit more robust in the past like Fabinho but Pavlovic should be able to do that role with comparisons to Rodri also being made.