With Germany, Klopp puts his pressing maxim at the heart of the Musiala-Wirtz issue

Jürgen Klopp’s most viral phrase returns, a decade later, with Germany. The coach, who makes his debut in charge of the German national team tonight against Xavi Hernández’s new Netherlands, must in particular resolve the question of combining Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz.

Klopp has produced countless memorable lines throughout his career. On arriving at Liverpool, he notably promised to “turn doubters into believers”. But tactically, his most widely discussed maxim remains the one he delivered in September 2016: “the best playmaker is a good press”.

That idea directly concerns Musiala and Wirtz, expected to be Germany’s two leading figures but never fully able to establish their connection when playing together. Their first shared appearance for the Mannschaft came in September 2021, in a warm-up match against Armenia under Hansi Flick, which ended in a comprehensive win. Introduced with half an hour remaining, Musiala was deployed as a false left winger, while Wirtz played as a number 10 and assisted Adeyemi for the sixth goal.

The pair have since played 25 matches together for Germany and have always said they enjoy the partnership. At a joint press conference during Euro 2024, Wirtz said that he got on well with Musiala both off the pitch and on it. In January 2025, Musiala said they combined frequently, sought to switch positions and that he usually tried to stay close to his teammate.

Their collective output is nevertheless constrained by similar areas of influence: they like receiving the ball at their feet and need movement ahead of them. For one to perform at his best, the other appears to have to move towards a flank. They have assisted one another only twice, both in the same match, in the opening game of Euro 2024: Wirtz set up Musiala for 0-2 before Jamal returned the favour to Florian a few minutes later. Wirtz had also opened the scoring for 1-0 in Germany’s 5-1 win over Scotland.

In 2023, Nagelsmann nevertheless argued for pairing them: “A few months ago, I read that the two cannot play together, but I think it is a very good idea. They both have the outstanding talent to put the ball into the spaces between the lines in front of the defensive line, dribble quickly towards goal and combine with other players.” Despite his attempts to make them coexist close to the central channel, they subsequently had a tournament far below expectations, a scenario already taking shape given how each had arrived.

The average positions recorded during the tournament match placed Musiala in position 10 and Wirtz in position 17. Klopp, for his part, intends to replicate the approach that made him successful at Liverpool: a 1-4-3-3 with different heights in midfield and, above all, genuine wingers.

“If we think about the last tournament, we all had the feeling that it could have been more intense. More effort, more intensity on the pitch: that is already my plan,” Klopp said. He also set out his view: “The big lesson from the tournament, for me, was that a team with a back four, which wanted to actively dominate the match, won. We will do that too. We will play with wingers. Today’s playmakers are out wide.” His old maxim therefore remains the reference point: “the best playmaker is a good press”. On paper, the two profiles do not appear to fit together at the same time, and their partnership has never fully convinced.

Both Musiala and Wirtz are in Klopp’s very large first squad, which contains 44 players. It notably includes Karl of Bayern, El Mala of Cologne, Schade of Brentford, Fürich of Stuttgart and Adeyemi of Barcelona. But Klopp has split them between the two squads he has assembled for the first four Nations matches; they will therefore have to compete for one of the three midfield places. Based on the hints given by the coach, their simultaneous presence looks difficult.