Klopp after Germany's 0-1 defeat: “I prefer a bad start to a bad ending!”

Jürgen Klopp took responsibility for Germany's 1-0 defeat to Greece in his first home game as national team head coach. The 59-year-old stressed that his heavily rotated side still have a lot to learn, particularly defensively.

Jürgen Klopp.

Photo: Alexander Hassenstein / Getty Images.

Jürgen Klopp has taken responsibility for Germany's 1-0 defeat to Greece, admitting that his numerous changes contributed to the disappointing result.

"With all the changes I made, the defeat is of course on me," Klopp said after the game. At the same time, he acknowledged that Germany should never have lost against a Greece side that defended very deeply.

"It's obvious that we were not going to win this game by a big margin against such a deep sitting opponent – but we shouldn't lose games like this one either."

Klopp was particularly critical of Germany's defending against long balls. "The Greeks basically only played long balls. We have to defend that better," he said, explaining that Germany sometimes failed to engage quickly enough in the resulting duels.

The coach also pointed to a lack of cohesion within his newly assembled squad.

"We're a newly put-together team and we keep showing moments where we understand each other well – but it can also go the other way, as we saw today," Klopp explained. "We couldn't execute our plans today."

For Klopp, that is part of the process. "Football needs training, football needs routines. We don't have enough of that yet," he said.

Despite the defeat, Klopp remains focused on the bigger picture. "I've lost many more games in my life than I wanted to. I can deal with it," he said. "After games like this, you just have to draw conclusions and get better."

He also added: “I prefer a bad start to a bad ending [in terms of creating a new philosophy within a team].”