Matthäus opposes Schweinsteiger and sees no middle ground in German elite
The start under the new national team coach Jürgen Klopp yielded only one point from two games and immediately left questions unanswered. World champion Bastian Schweinsteiger stated that the DFB team no longer belongs to the European elite and is moving in the middle ground. Lothar Matthäus disagrees and emphasizes that the national team is by no means average.
Klopp’s Start and Initial Criticism
After the two matches in which only one point was earned, observers criticized the performance of the German national team. The narrow success raised doubts about the new playing philosophy. At the same time, the criticism pressed on the notion that the team no longer matches the level of the European elite.
Bastian Schweinsteiger expressed himself soberly and said that Germany now moves in the middle ground of the football world. He emphasized that the team no longer counts among the top nations of Europe. This statement triggered a counter‑reaction, which was published in the interview with the was released.
Matthäus’ Counterarguments and Player Examples
Lothar Matthäus, a 63‑year‑old record national player and world as well as European champion of 1991, contradicted Schweinsteiger and emphasized the quality of individual performers. He mentioned Kai Havertz, who plays for the English champion and Champions League finalist Arsenal, as well as Karim Adeyemi, who is in top form at FC Barcelona. He also praised Yann Bisseck, whom Giuseppe Bergomi had already described as world‑class.
Matthäus also highlighted the performances of captain Joshua Kimmich as well as the defense around Jonathan Tah and Nico Schlotterbeck. He argued that the problem is more of a mental nature and does not lie in the pure quality of the players. For him, it is the “quality‑, but rather a mentality problem” of the national players that is decisive.
The former world footballer saw Jürgen Klopp as the only coach who could successfully transfer this mentality to the national team. He explained that if anyone could achieve this, it would be Klopp. Matthäus looked optimistically toward the upcoming match against Serbia, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
In the interview, Matthäus emphasized that the national team has enough differential players who week after week demonstrate their high quality at top clubs such as FC Bayern, Barcelona or Arsenal. These players would refute the argument of mediocrity. With this, he cast the current criticism of the German selection in a new light.