Jurgen Klopp has taken the blame for Germany's 1-0 loss at home to Greece in the Nations League. Dimitris Kourbelis scored the game's only goal as Liverpool's former manager remains winless.
Klopp's difficult start
Klopp, 59, drew his opening match in charge 1-1 with the Netherlands on Thursday after a 92nd-minute equaliser from Cody Gakpo in Amsterdam. The Dutch then won 2-1 against Serbia in Belgrade on Sunday, leaving Germany third in Group A2.
They will now host Serbia, followed by a rematch with Greece in Thessaloniki to conclude this first international break under Klopp. He spoke openly after their defeat in Augsburg.
Manager accepts responsibility
Klopp said: "With all the changes I made, the defeat is of course on me. It's obvious that we were not going to win this game by a big margin against such a deep-sitting opponent - but we shouldn't lose games like this one either."
He continued: "The Greeks basically only played long balls. We have to defend that better."
Positives and early lessons
Klopp, however, saw positives, saying: "We're a newly put-together team, and we keep showing moments where we understand each other well – but it can also go the other way, as we saw today. We couldn't execute our plans today."
He acknowledges that it is still early in his tenure, too. Klopp said: "Football needs training, football needs routines. We don't have enough of that yet."
Looking back over his career, the German recalled: "I've lost many more games in my life than I wanted to; I can deal with it. After games like this, you just have to draw conclusions and get better." Klopp concluded: "I prefer a bad start to a bad ending."
Wirtz still waiting
Florian Wirtz has yet to start either match under Klopp. He came on less than ten minutes before Greece scored the game's only goal on Sunday.
Klopp said before the match: "We have to make sure that Flo feels comfortable with us and can fit into what we want from him. With us, hopefully, he can simply be Flo."
"We can't do more than we're doing here, namely, build him up in our team with enough training and playing time. Bit by bit, give him certainty, a good feeling, and then send him back to Liverpool. I wish him all the best."
