Robert Huth's Take on Julian Klopp's Germany Appointment

Robert Huth has never been one for soft edges. Ask him what Julian Klopp needs to do to justify the huge expectations around his appointment as Germany boss and he doesn’t reach for jargon or long-term project talk.

“Be less sh*t,” he told GOAL, speaking via SportsbookReview.com. “The bar isn't very high, I think, at the moment.”

Blunt, yes. But it captures the mood of a country that has watched its national team drift since lifting the World Cup in 2014. Three major tournaments of underachievement have dulled the aura. Klopp’s arrival has lit the fuse again before a ball has even been kicked.

Klopp’s appointment and an instant jolt

For Huth, a veteran of Germany’s 2006 World Cup squad and a Premier League winner, the impact has already been obvious.

“What that appointment has done already in Germany, without Germany having played a game yet, is kind of brought that togetherness straight away,” he said. “Which kind of happened on the day he was appointed. Everyone was going, ‘yes, yes, now we've got that guy who we wanted 10 years ago’.”

Germany, in his eyes, has finally landed the figurehead it missed when Klopp was transforming Borussia Dortmund and later Liverpool into high-energy, high-emotion machines. Now, that same personality and edge belong to the national side.

“He's got that personality, the mindset, the knowledge of what it takes to get a nation back together,” Huth explained.

The first press conference told Huth everything he needed to know. It wasn’t the tactical detail. It was the feeling.

“I don't know if you saw his first press conference, I was like, ‘oh, where are my boots, I want to put my boots back on and start playing again!’ Not that I would be selected, but do you know what I mean?”

Huth found himself replaying it. Imagining how it would land in a dressing room full of active internationals.

“I can only imagine being an active player and listening to a press conference because there was no BS. There were no clever words. It was like, ‘listen, if you want to play for Germany, you're going to have to run a bit harder, you're going to have to fight harder, this is going to mean a bit more when you put the badge on’.”

No excuses, no blame – just standards

Klopp could easily have walked in and torched what came before. Germany’s recent record would have made it simple to point fingers. Huth noticed that he didn’t.

“It could have been very easy to throw the previous managers under the bus, ‘that was rubbish’, which I don't think he did,” Huth said. “He just went, ‘well, we need that bit more when comparing Germany to other nations that got further in the Euros and in the World Cup’.”

The message is simple: match the best, don’t moan about the past.

So far, the early signs behind the scenes back that up. Feedback from clubs has been positive. Klopp has been visible, present, and curious.

“The feedback's been good from the Bundesliga clubs. He's gone to plenty of games in pre-season and in the club games. So it looks great on paper.”

The paper, of course, doesn’t win tournaments. But it does show intent.

Realism about rivals, belief about Germany

Huth is not promising trophies. He knows the field. He lists the giants without hesitation: France, England, Brazil, Argentina. “Some proper other football nations out there,” as he puts it.

But he expects something non-negotiable from Germany under Klopp.

“I fully imagine Germany is going to be a lot better in the upcoming tournaments than they have been in the past,” he said. “Not to say that they're going to win it. I think even themselves said, ‘listen, we're going to try and win it, of course, that's the aim, but there's France, there's England, there's Brazil, there's Argentina, there's some proper other football nations out there, but we're going to get out there and certainly leave everything on a pitch’.”

That last line cuts to the core of the frustration at home. For all the tactical debates and squad arguments, the one accusation that stings most is that Germany have not emptied the tank.

“That hasn’t been the case in Germany’s situation over the last few years,” Huth admitted. “So I'm excited. Come on, Germany!”

From stagnation to “heavy metal”?

Huth doesn’t sugarcoat the decline.

“We've been sh*t since 2014,” he said. In his view, that’s the starting point. From there, progress is clear and measurable. “So a semi-final would be all right.”

The dream, though, is bigger than a last-four appearance. It’s about identity. About seeing echoes of Klopp’s club sides in a national shirt.

“If Germany can replicate any kind of Liverpool's and Dortmund's intensity, pace, energy, spirit, I'm getting excited!” Huth said. “I know it's difficult to replicate it in the national team, but if they can do it, if you can do it, that would be heavy metal football!”

That’s the promise hanging over this new era: not just results, but a soundtrack. Noise, speed, risk, emotion. Germany have the coach who built that style twice. The question now is whether a fractured national team can handle the volume.