Lothar Matthäus Slams Decision to Send Captain Joshua Kimmich Home from Germany Squad

Matthäus blasts Klopp’s decision to release captain Kimmich

“The record international stated he would have kept Kimmich in the squad for all four matches to ensure that newcomers had the opportunity to get to know the team leader,” pointing to the Bayern Munich midfielder as the absolute leader who shares responsibility alongside the coach.

Contrasting club form and international impact

Even as he defended Kimmich’s vital role, Matthäus flagged a stark discrepancy in the player’s recent performances. He observed that while the 31-year-old has been a decisive factor for Bayern Munich, he has yet to translate that exact level of impact to the German national team.

That disconnect mirrors a wider malaise. The team continues to struggle for consistency, and Matthäus highlighted that despite holding significant overall quality, Germany currently lacks players in specific positions capable of making a difference at the highest level of competition.

Blistering verdicts on Adeyemi and Nmecha

The former World Player of the Year spared no one else, turning his sharpest criticism toward Karim Adeyemi and Felix Nmecha. Regarding Adeyemi, who plays for FC Barcelona, Matthäus conceded the player has every right to dribble, but insisted he also carries the responsibility to bury chances identical to the ones he recently converted at club level.

The critique of Borussia Dortmund’s Felix Nmecha was far more severe. Matthäus tore into the player’s tackling and duel behavior in the buildup to the Greek winning goal, dismissing it as being on the level of a local district league (Kreisliga).

Parsing Klopp’s tactical demands

Disagreements over squad rotation aside, Matthäus rejected the notion that Jürgen Klopp is asking too much of his players. He noted that the baseline requirements demanded by Klopp—running hard and winning duels—were standard norms on the pitch throughout Matthäus’s own 20-year career.

In Matthäus’s view, those fundamental physical efforts are mere prerequisites. The real burden, he maintained, rests entirely on the players to execute with intelligence and deliver their own tactical solutions on the pitch.