“Interference is not well received”
Matthäus has a problem with Klopp’s expert role
June 13, 2026 – 1:26 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
As an expert on the microphone, Jürgen Klopp is accompanying the World Cup in the USA, Mexico and Canada. Lothar Matthäus is bothered by some of his previous statements.
Record national player Lothar Matthäus first contradicted Jürgen Klopp’s statements as a TV expert and then critically questioned them. The trigger: Former Liverpool coach and ex-Bayern star Thomas Müller spoke on MagentaTV on Thursday about Jamal Musiala’s role in the German national team. If the duo had their way, the in-form Deniz Undav should play instead of Magic Foot. “I was very surprised,” Matthäus explained to the “Bild” newspaper. “I accept your opinion, but I don’t want to leave it that way.”
Matthäus misses the sensitivity. “Jürgen Klopp in particular should know.” For a successful World Cup from a German perspective, you need the “quality of Musialas. That’s why you have to give him trust and playing time,” said Matthäus. National coach Julian Nagelsmann recently relied on Musiala in the starting line-up, with Undav acting as a joker.
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Matthäus was even more bothered by Klopp’s criticism of a fellow coach. The comments “don’t make Nagelsmann’s job any easier. I’d like to see what Kloppo would have said if an expert had advised him to put one of his regular players on the bench before an important Champions League game,” said Matthäus and added: “Such interference doesn’t go down well, especially among coaching colleagues.”
Discussion comes at an inopportune time
Thomas Müller described Undav as an “excellent option” on Thursday and added: “He simply has a nose. I have zeroed in on this Undav idea.” Klopp added: “We brought Undav into the game because he can play on ten.” Both see Musiala as a substitute.
Matthäus was annoyed by this. “We all know that Musiala is not in his best form at the moment. But instead of making trouble about him, we should now support him. Instead, something like this is happening.” He called the fact that Müller judges one of his former teammates “takes some getting used to.” Criticism is part of the job of an expert, but this discussion comes at an inopportune time.