Three things Jürgen Klopp changed for Germany to dominate Serbia

The Florian Wirtz formula

Liverpool FC should take notes, as Jürgen Klopp shows how to do it. Florian Wirtz is a player with strengths and weaknesses, and both must be taken into account when designing a system built around him. So what did Klopp get right?

Step one: give him freedom.

Let’s recap for a second. You signed Florian Wirtz. His strengths are his creativity, his tenacity and his pace of work. His weakness is being bullied with the ball and being crowded out by busy midfielders. He has good technical foundations like any other attacking midfielder, but not the revolutionary vision or passing range of Mesut Özil. He doesn’t know how to dribble like Jamal Musiala, or deceive markers and interpret space like Thomas Müller.

Any team using Florian Witz needs a tailor-made solution. Against Serbia, Klopp made his debut. He put Wirtz to work in a free role, giving him the right to move left and dive deep. This allowed him to take advantage of his work rate to move his markers, while also giving the LFC man a way to escape from the more congested areas of the pitch. Ironically, the same actions decluttered those same areas, which gave Wirtz space to run into when he got the right pass.

Premier League pundits love to claim that Wirtz plays poorly because teams never give him space. True, but Klopp offers an elegant solution. Let Wirtz play to his strengths and he CAN find space, but not in the places you expect. He can’t get out of a forest of defenders, but give the field freedom and he’ll eventually outrun them.

Of course, this solution only works because of the next part, which might upset Liverpool fans somewhat.

Step two: give him a midfielder.

If you place your attacking midfielder in a free role, you need the rest of your midfield to compensate. This requires players with a high football IQ, who know how to interact and plan a sequence of possession five passes in advance.

With Joshua Kimmich back in the middle, Wirtz was supported by a midfield coordinator who gave him easy access to the space he needed. Kimmich is conductor. He manipulates each player on the field like in a video game. His actions aren’t worth a compilation of highlights, so you’ll miss them unless you’re looking for them.

For example, he will notice congestion on the left, so he will move the ball towards Malick Thiaw, causing the opposition to subtly move to cope. With an avenue now open, he passes the ball left to Aleksandar Pavlović, causing Serbia to change position, while Wirtz at the same time attacks the space they leave behind them. Then, when Pav makes his next pass, he has a wide range of options – if not Wirtz, then Kai Havertz, Brajan Gruda or Derry Scherhant, as well as a backpass to Kimmich.

This divides the attention, giving Wirtz more space than he otherwise would have. It’s also deceptively simple, since it’s just a pair of square passes, allowing it to be repeated as a sequence over and over again during a game. The more that happens, the more likely Wirtz is to make an impact. That’s why it was successful. Klopp took advantage of these tactical changes to give his player some breathing room, and Wirtz did the rest. What a performance.

There is probably a third step, but this remains in the realm of theory. Perhaps if Jamal Musiala gets fit, Klopp can explore different options for Wirtz. Perhaps a 4-1-4-1 with double AMs, or a false 9 role similar to what Harry Kane does at Bayern Munich. The possibilities are immense, but they depend on a certain position and who wins the race to become a starter. In this regard, one player is ahead of the rest.

Kai Havertz isn’t perfect, but…

Germany currently has few options as a striker. Younes Ebnoutalib is unproven at this level, Deniz Undav has lost his form after the World Cup and Nick Woltemade is stuck playing for the orphan crushing machine (Juventus). Under these conditions, Havertz appears to be safe in the attacking role.

For now, it still offers something of value. His finishing wasn’t up to par against Serbia, but from a tactical point of view it was the best game he’s played in ages (at least for Germany). Havertz is no Harry Kane, but he knows where to move and how to offer himself as a target for interaction, opening up room for others to exploit. With Klopp already exploiting the system to prioritize Wirtz, Havetz makes a strong case for his inclusion.

Now, will that be enough for him to keep his place? Niclas Füllkrug could potentially oust Havertz on his merits, but the Bremen star is 33 and will be 35 by the next Euro. Time and tactics indicate that Havertz is Klopp’s preferred starter at the moment.

Let’s all salute the new Fußballgott

Does Klopp have his first real must-have star? Maybe.

Aleksandar Pavlović has been criticized for a disappointing World Cup, particularly for his lack of physical presence. He seems to have taken these complaints to heart. Since the start of this season, the 22-year-old has completely reinvented his game, going from Kimmich’s sidekick to a monster in his own right. Klopp seems to recognize this and has made the FC Bayern star a key part of his setup.

A few months ago, Pavlović was just a possession machine. A hundred passes per match, 99% accuracy every time. Boring and effective, but it didn’t do much else. It didn’t matter when he played for Bayern, but the World Cup exposed his flaws.

So he went to work on it. His ability to carry the ball improved and he discovered a tendency to make quick runs into space. Physically, he now gets in the way, placing his body between the opponents and the ball. His tackling has improved, both in terms of timing and tenacity. He’s better at getting stuck.

It’s not perfect yet. Pavlović still seems to force it from time to time, not looking 100% comfortable in purely physical duels. However, you don’t transform into Bastian Schweinsteiger overnight. And the comparison with Schweinsteiger seems apt.

Pav, currently, is expanding and refining his game. He is only 22 years old and his trajectory seems promising. At the end of this journey, there may be a player who deserves the Fußballgott title for the first time since the man himself retired.

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