Jürgen Klopp's first press conference as Germany coach came before Germany vs Serbia, and the main message was not tactical. The squad had already been labelled "not white enough" or "not German enough" on social media after the 1-0 loss to Greece in Augsburg, and Klopp used the moment to reject that outright.

"There is no reason to give these people any thought. They aren't getting any of my attention. I have little time for stupidity in real life, and none on social media either," he said, as reported by bundesliga.com. He also argued that pride and diversity can sit together, asking: "Can you be proud to be German and yet be open, diverse, kind and friendly? Can you have compassion? Can you have all these things? I am one hundred percent certain that you can."

Klopp's message on identity

That was the point of the afternoon. Klopp said football dressing rooms can inspire the world and that he did not want to leave national pride to the wrong people. He added that the group in camp could teach something back, saying the world could learn a thing or two from a sports dressing room and that everyone should be respected on the basis of facts, not misguided opinions.

It is a clean opening stance, and probably the right one. Germany's response to abuse was never going to come from pretending the noise was not there. It came from calling it what it was and moving on without handing it oxygen.

Germany's start and the captaincy clue

The football side of the story is less tidy. Germany have taken just one point from their two opening Nations League games and sit third in their group, so the Serbia match has some weight even with the wider message dominating the build-up. Klopp also said the team are still early in the process, which fits the results more than any grand claim about a finished idea.

The other detail from the press conference was the captaincy. Klopp said the armband will go to the player with the most international caps in the starting line-up, while also ruling out Jonas Urbig for his first international match. That keeps Florian Wirtz, with 46 caps, in the conversation, with Serge Gnabry on 61 and David Raum on 39 also in the mix.

Klopp's own wording leaves the armband undecided, but it does narrow the field. For Germany, the more immediate test is whether the talk about standards carries into Germany vs Serbia and stops the start from looking like a false move after the Greece defeat.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →