Jurgen Klopp appointed Germany head coach amid national debate

He was once hailed as Liverpool's footballing messiah. Now Jurgen Klopp has been asked to work miracles for his country.

Last month, Klopp watched on as a touchline TV pundit as Germany went out of the World Cup in a shock penalty shootout defeat by Paraguay.

The loss led head coach Julian Nagelsmann to resign and plunged German football into a full-scale identity crisis.

Just three weeks later, it is Klopp who has been tasked with picking up the pieces and restoring his country's once-famous winning mentality, signing a four-year deal to become head coach.

Assigned with leading the team through Euro 2028 and the 2030 World Cup, Klopp's first game in charge will be against the Netherlands on 24 September.

"The national team can unite us Germans like almost nothing else. That's precisely what makes this task so special for me," Klopp said.

A Champions League and Premier League winner with Liverpool and a two-time Bundesliga champion with Borussia Dortmund, the 59-year-old is already considered one of the greatest German managers.

Yet while many believe he is the perfect man for the national team job, the appointment has also sparked fierce debate in Germany.

For the German football association (DFB), securing Klopp's signature has been a priority since Nagelsmann resigned in the wake of the Paraguay defeat.

DFB president Bernd Neuendorf said Klopp "embodies passion, credibility, and the ability to inspire people".

"After Julian Nagelsmann's resignation, he was our unequivocal choice for the position of national team coach. That's why we pursued him relentlessly," Neuendorf added.

Now the deal is done.

Klopp has signed a deal until 2030 and will build his coaching team around former Liverpool assistants Pep Lijnders and Peter Krawietz.

Germany will hope the trio can do for them what they once did for the Premier League club and restore one of football's fallen giants to its former glory.

Few doubt Klopp has what it takes to breathe new life into the national team.

In a recent poll by Germany's leading football magazine Kicker, 80% of readers said they thought Klopp was the right choice.

Of the many criticisms of the German team in recent years, the most enduring have been a lack of winning mentality and a failure to bond with fans.

Klopp, who has spent his career talking about "mentality monsters" and became a cult hero at every club he has managed, would seem to be the perfect solution.

Speaking on the popular weekly football talk show Doppelpass, former Germany and Bayern Munich midfielder Stefan Effenberg said Klopp could bring a "new spirit of optimism".

For Borussia Dortmund chief executive Carsten Cramer, the new manager's influence may even go beyond sport.

"I think he embodies a lot of the things that our football and our country are missing right now," Cramer told Kicker.

Yet not everyone is so enamoured of the new national team boss.

Klopp's reputation has suffered in Germany since he joined Red Bull as head of global soccer in 2024, in a move many fans saw as a betrayal.

German fans have long criticised Red Bull for its multi-club model and effective circumvention of the much-loved 50+1 rule, which guarantees supporter voting rights at German clubs.

In July, reports Klopp could continue to work as a brand ambassador for Red Bull after becoming Germany manager were met with outrage.

Former DFB president Theo Zwanziger told Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper such a move would be "an absolute no-go", adding Red Bull "want to win power inside the sport".

Meanwhile, fan group Unsere Kurve said the DFB should not "kowtow to capital" by allowing Red Bull to keep Klopp on their books.

"Before hailing him as the Messiah, we should remember how much goodwill he has squandered, especially among Dortmund fans," the group's spokesperson Thomas Kessen told news agency SID.

Others have criticised the DFB's rush to hire Klopp without considering other candidates.

"It's obvious that he is number one, but when you see the delegation flying to New York, it seems a bit hectic. You have to ask: do they have any alternatives?" said 2014 World Cup winner Bastian Schweinsteiger as a pundit on ARD.

He added Klopp could only be a "band-aid", as Germany's current woes run much deeper than the dugout.

The German men's national team is currently at its lowest ebb in decades, having failed to reach the last 16 at the past three World Cups.

Many, including Klopp himself, have argued for root-and-branch reform at all levels of the game.

"I have said many times that it's not just about the head coach," the incoming Germany manager told MagentaTV earlier this month.

"German football as a whole is facing a turning point, we have to change some fundamental things."

For Klopp, the rebuild will begin in September when Germany open their Nations League campaign against the Netherlands, their traditional rivals.

The real test for the 59-year-old will come in two years' time, when the UK and Ireland host Euro 2028.

In a twist of fate, that tournament could see Klopp make an emotional return to the city of Liverpool.

Though Anfield is not a venue at Euro 2028, Klopp's Germany could end up playing at Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium.

By that time, we may have a better idea of whether Liverpool's saviour has been able to work his wonders with Germany.