Klopp’s Plan For Germany – And What He Thinks About Working With Völler | OneFootball

By Ben McFadyean.

While all of German football waits with bated breath for the appointment of a new national team manager, Jürgen Klopp has provided an update. Nothing has been decided yet, according to the DFB’s preferred candidate, who nevertheless has a clear plan in mind – one in which Rudi Völler would also play an important role.

Negotiations are currently underway between the DFB (the German FA) and its preferred candidate for the post of national team manager; a delegation led by President Bernd Neuendorf is set to travel to the US this week, where Klopp is working as a pundit on MagentaTV, to discuss the terms.

On Tuesday, sporting director Rudi Völler also stated that he intended to remain in post, despite the disappointing early World Cup exit, the third in a row after Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, and the parting of ways with Julian Nagelsmann.

Asked about the potential of collaborating with the former top striker, “It wouldn’t be an issue for me,” said Klopp, who emphasised that he sees Völler as a key part of the plan for a sustainable national team.

“If it were to come to me becoming national team manager, it would be a huge help to have someone there who knows the ropes,” added Klopp.

“Rudi has his experience of playing on the one hand, but he also has many years of service within the federation. Which is something I, if I were to take the job, have absolutely no experience of. I’ve neither played for nor coached a national team.”

Appointment expected before the end of the World Cup

Klopp, who started his coaching career with Mainz 05 who he led to top tier promotion in 2004, underlined the fact that he is considering both the short-term and long-term perspective and the wider dimension of the role: “One consideration is the next match, the other is the future of the whole team, the main thing I’m interested in at this time is the (UEFA Nations League) first match against the Netherlands.”

Asked about the need to put new structures in place, he explained that he hasn’t gained the needed insight to take it that far as yet: “To change anything, you first of all need to know what’s really going on; on the outside, you have absolutely no idea what’s happening. Whoever takes this on needs to take a good look for themselves and decide.”

The four-time World Champions also failed to go beyond the quarterfinals at the last two European Championships, and doubts have arisen about the current generation of players: “We don’t currently have the best players in the world, let alone 200 of them,” Klopp said.

“There are an incredible number of reasons for this. It’s not just about training; training is also part of the issue; that is just one of the many issues that need to be addressed.”

Klopp stressed the centrality of the national team for German football and the magnitude of the task: “There’s a lot at stake. Whoever takes on the job will have their work cut out for them.”

The decision will come down to DFB President Bernd Neuendorf and Bundesliga CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke, who will meet the designated new national team manager for a summit in New York expected this week.

What has been clear since the end of last week is that Klopp will be bringing along his long-standing associates, assistant managers Peter Krawietz, who worked with him at Mainz, BVB and Liverpool, and former Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders. They will replace Nagelsmann’s assistants Benjamin Hübner, Benjamin Glück, Alfred Schreuder and Bram Geer. Goalkeeping coach Andreas Kronenberg will remain.

It is also being speculated that Hannes Wolf, as Klopp’s former colleague at Dortmund and current DFB Director of Youth Development, will be given an even more significant role.

Red Bull compensation remains an issue

Following Neuendorf and Watzke, Oliver Mintzlaff, head of Red Bull – Klopp’s current employer – is also set to fly to New York. Preliminary discussions have already taken place regarding contractual matters. The manager’s contract with Red Bull as Head of Global Soccer remains valid until 2029. It does not contain a release clause; instead, there was merely an exit agreement. According to a report in Bild Zeitung, however, somewhat surprisingly, no transfer fee will be due to the DFB.

The Red Bull Group instead favour a solution whereby Klopp remains a brand ambassador even as Germany’s national team manager, rather than paying a severance package. This only seems surprising at first glance because Klopp represents not a club but an energy drinks brand. For the DFB, who are under financial pressure due to the failures on the pitch, this appears to also be a workable solution. Julian Nagelsmann will also be due a severance payment, expected to run into the single-digit millions.

The new national team manager is set to sign a contract running until the end of the next World Cup in 2030, to be held in Spain, Morocco and Portugal.

A salary increase compared to Nagelsmann

With the Red Bull job, the two-time Champions League winner’s salary has been estimated to be in the region of €12 million per year. In the DFB role, Klopp is expected to earn slightly more than Nagelsmann’s €7m per year salary, but no details have yet been confirmed.

Asked about the appointment by the German national TV channel ZDF earlier this week the Borussia Dortmund Chairman Hans-Joachim Watzke, who also heads up the DFL said: “Jürgen is our plan A and we also want to implement our plan A,” Watzke also emphasised Klopp’s willingness to compromise for the sake of the national team: “There are problems to be solved. Jürgen’s willingness to solve these problems is also a significant help”.

Asked about the appointment, Germany icon Lothar Matthäus called for a total overhaul of the DFB following the nation’s poor World Cup campaign. In the wake of a shocking round-of-16 exit, Matthäus insisted that the problems within the federation run much deeper than just the man in the dugout: “Every stone must be turned over, and everyone at the DFB must question themselves”.

Lahm stresses the size of the task

Klopp’s first task would be against the Netherlands on 24 September in the UEFA Nations League; they reached the semifinal but lost to Portugal. They are in group A2 with Holland, Serbia and Greece.

Former Bayern Munich great, who is also respected as a TV pundit, Philipp Lahm, also explained the underlying issues of finding a genuine national identity: “Across the whole tournament, there has been no stable, structured team performance, no sense of a path that would actually be leading us towards success.

“For a country with our footballing history, that is not enough.”

For the former world-class defender, the DFB team have fallen behind the world’s best, citing Argentina, Brazil, France, and Spain as examples of teams with stable identities. “For the top teams, the way of playing doesn’t keep changing all the time,” he added.

Four goals were conceded in regular time at the 2026 tournament. For the moment, the reputation of the German team, relying on a rock-solid defence, making them almost unbeatable, appears to be gone. Even taking into account the injury to left-back Nico Schlotterbeck, which undoubtedly undermined the side’s prospects. The art of defending has always been a traditional German strength, along with focus, discipline and a tournament mindset. Reinstating this will be Klopp’s first task.

Klopp’s appointment had already overshadowed Julian Nagelsmann’s work, as reported by the Bundesliga on the recommendations of the national team coach appointee, the DFB, which already agreed in June to instate a new league for top talent from the two top tiers similar to England’s Premier League 2, the U21 Talent Series, which will run from next season.

Whilst the issue of the Red Bull contract needs and the Stuttgart-born manager’s continued representation of the Energy Drink brand are expected to provide some potential complications due to image rights as national team manager, the appointment as national team manager is expected to be confirmed before the end of the World Cup.