Germany icon Lothar Matthäus hopes Jürgen Klopp gets plenty of creative freedom if he’s appointed as new national team coach following the World Cup debacle.
“I hope that the German Football Federation (DFB) gives him all the time and authority he needs to make real improvements. That includes allowing him to bring in the right people for every position, people who will work with his vision,” the 1990 World Cup winner wrote in a column for the Sport Bild weekly on Wednesday.
Matthäus specifically mentioned 2014 World Cup champions Per Mertesacker and Bastian Schweinsteiger, whom he could easily envision as part of Klopp’s team and who possess the necessary expertise.
Klopp is the top favourite to take over as Germany coach after Julian Nagelsmann resigned following the World Cup exit in the round of 32 in a 4-3 defeat on penalties to Paraguay.
DFB sporting director Rudi Völler also said that he would like to have more 2014 World Cup winners in key roles at the association.
“There are some who could become a topic of discussion,” he said during a news conference with German media.
“There are a few who want that, and it will happen. This generation also has a bit of a duty to perhaps step up and take on some responsibility,” he said, specifically naming Mertesacker, Mats Hummels, Thomas Müller, Schweinsteiger, and Sami Khedira.
“Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anyone. These are names I can all imagine eventually taking on some role at the DFB, whether alongside me or after me,” said Völler, who plans to fulfill his contract, which runs through 2028.
Mertesacker, who served as head of Arsenal youth academy for several years, has already offered his services to the DFB in the past.
