The debate surrounding Joshua Kimmich’s role on the national team continues to gain momentum. Lothar Matthäus believes Aleksandar Pavlovic has the upper hand.
Joshua Kimmich’s role under Jürgen Klopp remains one of the major topics surrounding the German national team. While the Bayern star is the captain and, in Lothar Matthäus’s view, essentially indispensable, the all-time leader in caps also sees a fundamental problem in the national team coach’s current system.
Klopp prefers a 4-1-4-1 formation with a clear defensive midfielder in front of the defense and two attacking midfielders in front of him. That’s exactly where, in Matthäus’s view, the debate over Kimmich begins. The 31-year-old, he argues, isn’t the classic defensive midfielder for this role but operates in a much more attacking manner.
Matthäus explains in his column for Sport BILD: “Kimmich is Klopp’s captain and therefore has to play for me. However, he is not a classic defensive midfielder.”
At FC Bayern, this issue is handled differently. Vincent Kompany typically pairs Kimmich with a second central midfielder who covers for him when the national team player pushes forward. In Klopp’s system, that kind of cover simply doesn’t exist.
Matthäus sees Pavlovic as having the edge in terms of profile
That’s exactly why Matthäus brings another Bayern player into the discussion. “For Klopp’s philosophy, Kimmich is actually a tad too offensive. In terms of profile, Aleksandar Pavlovic would be a better fit,” writes the 65-year-old.
As a true defensive midfielder, Pavlovic brings different qualities to the table and could therefore be a better fit for Klopp’s desired structure. The 22-year-old recently impressed alongside Tom Bischof in the 2-0 win over Serbia, further establishing himself as a key player.
Matthäus can therefore understand why Klopp wanted to deliberately test his team without Kimmich for a while. At the same time, he warns against writing off the captain too quickly. “Still, Klopp doesn’t have enough leaders to be able to afford to do without Kimmich.”
Matthäus is thus describing the central dilemma: From a purely athletic standpoint, Pavlovic might be a better fit for the sole defensive midfield role, but in terms of experience, leadership, and presence, Kimmich remains one of the most important players on the DFB team.
For FC Bayern, this discussion is quite noteworthy. At the club, Kimmich remains a starter under Kompany because the system is better tailored to his strengths. On the national team, however, his own teammate Pavlovic—of all people—could compete with him for his preferred position.