“It would be a great honour” – Will Schlotterbeck captain Germany against Serbia?

With Joshua Kimmich not part of the second Germany squad for the upcoming two matches, it remains unclear who will captain Jürgen Klopp’s team when they face Serbia in Munich on Thursday.

One candidate is certainly Nico Schlotterbeck, who usually wears the captain’s armband for Borussia Dortmund.

In an interview with ZDF ahead of the game, the 26-year-old was asked if he will be the captain in Kimmich’s absence.

“I don’t know, no idea. But I would be absolutely delighted. I’ll see how the coach lines up the team. If I were captain, it would be a great honour,” Schlotterbeck said.

Overall, the centre-back doesn't believe Germany have a leadership problem.

“We have a few leaders and several players who already have quite a few international caps. That’s why I think we’re fine. A lot of players come from very big clubs. We have the captains of Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig here. If anything, we have too many leaders. I don’t see that as a problem at all,” Schlotterbeck said.
 

“We have to adapt”

Commenting on Germany’s poor start under Klopp, which has seen them take just one point from games against the Netherlands and Greece, Schlotterbeck said he is not surprised that the team needs time to fully gel.

“Jürgen is trying to implement his system in a short space of time, and that takes time. We’re getting a lot of input from Jürgen, and it’s not easy,” he said.

“But we’re all footballers, so we have to adapt. If we can manage that, then we’ll become a good team.”

Even if there is still plenty of room for improvement, the 26-year-old believes Germany will “100 percent win” against Serbia on Thursday.

“We have to follow the game plan, every single player has to perform – if we can manage that, we’ll win,” he said.