The selection process means we will not see Germany’s best starting XI this time around. Instead, Klopp clearly intends to try out new players, some of whom played in Germany’s second tier only a few months ago.
Take, for example, Felix Keidel, a 23-year-old full-back-midfielder hybrid from recently promoted SV Elversberg.
A year ago, Keidel was as far away from the national team as the Oktoberfest from Rio Carnival.
Now Keidel – just like Mika Baur, Bambase Conte, Max Rosenfelder, Philipp Treu, and Vitaly Janelt – has the chance to show he could be a valuable cog in the machine.
Klopp has never built his success merely on star names – he has always taken a liking to undervalued and overlooked players.
He once signed an little-known Polish winger by the name of Lukasz Piszczek and moulded him into one of the best right-backs in Europe who would go toe-to-toe with Cristiano Ronaldo in his prime. And he helped transform Andy Robertson into a force on Liverpool’s left side.
Klopp’s style helps to elevate all the members of his squad – not just the most talented.
Fitness and mental readiness are highly important, and some newcomers might just have that to impress the new manager.
But man-marking is prevalent in Germany’s top flight, while Klopp prefers his teams to close down the player in possession to create superior numbers around the ball. So some of the Bundesliga players will have to adapt quickly.
“It is not important who plays but how someone plays,” Klopp said last week. “I expect a lot from the beginning. It could be a bit wild, but I accept that. It just has to be lively.”
Klopp has chosen younger squads compared to the ones we saw in the past couple of years. Manuel Neuer, Antonio Rudiger and Pascal Gross have retired from international football, and other 30-somethings might just not receive a chance to get into the team again.
“I think it is about time to wish the new generation best of luck,” Gross said after Brighton’s win over Arsenal on Saturday. “I still enjoy playing football here in the club, but there’s a change in Germany and rightfully so.”
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