"The door is open to everyone. Wide open." That was Jurgen Klopp's message after Germany finished the break with five points from a possible 12 across four UEFA Nations League matches, and the next squad is already set to shrink from 44 players to 23 or 24 for November.
The selection squeeze for November
Klopp said the next camp will be smaller after he and his staff spend the break reviewing what they saw. He has already said he will not take 44 players into the next round of fixtures, and the cut will be severe compared with the group he used over the last two weeks.
That does not mean the audition is over. Klopp said, "We saw many players over these two weeks. Everyone showed what they could do; everyone earned their place," and he added that omission will not mean a player is not good enough, only that the squad has to stop at 23 to 24.
Thiaw and Woltemade leave different impressions
The break also gave some individual cases a clearer shape. Malick Thiaw played 90 minutes and was rated 6.9 in the 0-0 draw with Greece in Thessaloniki, a tidy enough night for a player trying to stay in the frame.
Nick Woltemade had less time to make his case. He played 27 minutes and was rated 6.53 in the same match, which leaves him in a less secure spot when the squad is cut down for November.
Germany’s break was mixed rather than dominant, but Klopp's stance is still clear. The competition for places remains open, and the final November group will come from a much smaller pool than the one he used across the four-match window.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
