Matthäus does not want to debate whether Germany still need Kimmich. To him, the answer is settled.
Speaking on RTL on Monday, the former Germany captain waved off the whole discussion that has grown around his Bayern Munich successor.
“As far as I’m concerned, Joshua Kimmich is a sure starter. I’m not getting involved at all in this discussion about whether we need him or not.”
He went further, pointing back to the September fixture in the Netherlands.
“For me, Joshua Kimmich was the best field player in the first game in the Netherlands. He’s a leader; he has experience. He helps make teams stronger.”
Pavlović and Bischof opened the question
The reason the question even exists is what happened on 1 October. Klopp had split his 44-player group into two squads for the international break, and Kimmich was not in the one that travelled to the Allianz Arena to face Serbia. In his place, Bayern duo Aleksandar Pavlović and Tom Bischof lined up in central midfield behind Florian Wirtz.
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Germany won 2-0. Bischof scored his first senior international goal five minutes before half-time, Wirtz added the second just past the hour, and the pair looked at ease together.
Three days later, the same shape produced a 0-0 draw against group leaders Greece. Two matches, no Kimmich, no defeat, one convincing win.
That was all the German football press needed. The question was back on the table: was Klopp’s Germany better off running a younger engine room?
Klopp has already thrown up his hands
Matthäus’s intervention lands two days after Klopp himself tried, and failed, to end the same conversation at a pre-match press conference. The Germany manager threw up his hands when pressed again on his captain’s role.
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“I give up. Seriously. Officially.”
“I’m happy that Joshua Kimmich is a leading player for Germany.”
Klopp has repeatedly described the rotation as planned, not punitive, pointing out that he had told the full squad from the start which players would feature in which block. That has not slowed the debate down. If anything, Matthäus’s RTL appearance confirms it has broken out of the pundit circuit and into the ex-captain tier.
Germany left the October break on 4 points, behind Greece on 7 and the Netherlands on 5, with Serbia bottom on 0. The group resumes in November.
