Max Kruse Questions Kimmich's Leadership as Klopp Defines Role

Max Kruse has never been one to sand down his opinions. At 38, the former Germany international has taken aim at what he sees as a national team stripped of real edge – and at the man wearing the armband for Bayern Munich.

In a pointed critique of Jürgen Klopp’s first oversized Germany squad, swollen to 44 players, Kruse backed up the long-running thesis of ex-DFB boss Oliver Bierhoff: this team, he says, is short on genuine, rugged leaders.

The personalities, in his view, have been ironed out.

“The DFB squad lacks distinctive characters, because everything has been smoothed out,” the 14-cap international argued, lamenting a group he feels is too polished, too controlled, and too light on players who impose themselves when it matters.

At the centre of his criticism stands Joshua Kimmich. The 31-year-old is captain at Bayern, a serial winner, a player whose intensity is often held up as a model. Kruse is not convinced.

“For me, Joshua Kimmich is not a leader player either, despite the armband at Bayern,” he said, drawing a sharp line between wearing the captain’s band and truly commanding a team.

Kruse then set out his own definition of what leadership on the pitch should look like. It is not, he insisted, a matter of symbolism or the occasional crunching tackle.

“Leadership is not shown only through the captain's armband and hard challenges, leadership is so much more. For me, Kimmich is not the right man for that,” he made clear, underlining that, in his eyes, Germany’s supposed standard-bearer does not fit the role.

While the debate rages outside, Klopp’s stance inside the DFB camp could hardly be clearer.

Where will Klopp use Kimmich?

The new national coach has nailed his colours to the mast. For Klopp, Kimmich is not just a senior figure; he is a central pillar of the project and, crucially, a midfielder.

At the World Cup, necessity pushed Kimmich to right-back. It was a compromise, not a vision. Klopp wants no repeat of that.

“We see him as a midfielder,” Klopp stated. “We have not had a single conversation in which we spoke about him as a right-back.”

That closes one discussion and opens another. If Kimmich is to run Germany’s midfield again, he will do so under a coach who demands defensive steel from every outfield player, star names included.

Klopp has already laid down that marker. Stability, he stressed, starts at the back – not only with the back four, but with how the entire side defends.

“Stability only comes from the defence, from how you work defensively – and for that I need every single one. The point now is that we commit ourselves to that. That applies to Jo just as it does to everyone else,” Klopp underlined as he announced his squad.

So the lines are drawn. Outside, Kruse calls for rougher edges and doubts whether Kimmich truly leads. Inside, Klopp hands Kimmich responsibility in his favourite role and demands that he set the tone without the safety net of a full-back assignment.

One former international says Germany lack characters. The new coach is betting that one of the most scrutinised players in the country can become exactly that.

Now Kimmich has to prove which version of him – and which version of this Germany side – will define the Klopp era.