Joshua Kimmich 'not a world-class player' says Mario Basler as former Germany star slams Bayern Munich midfielder after Greece defeat

Basler delivered an uncompromising verdict on Kimmich, insisting the Germany captain is nowhere near world class. The harsh assessment came on the back of a shock 1-0 defeat to Greece in Augsburg, where Dimitrios Kourbelis' decisive strike deflected off Kimmich himself. The frustrating result soured Klopp's first home fixture in charge, despite the hosts bossing 75 percent of possession.

The 57-year-old questioned Germany's tendency to channel every move through Kimmich, pointing out that his heavy involvement yielded zero cutting edge. Speaking on his podcast Basler BallertviaSport.de, Basler said: "Kimmich runs somewhere. Everyone immediately gives him the ball. I don't know why. But nothing came of it from Kimmich yesterday. Most touches, covered a lot of ground, yes, but nothing came of it.

"I've been saying for months, even years now: Kimmich is not a world-class player. He's a normal midfielder who, seemingly, wants to take all the corners, all the free-kicks, everything, and is running around everywhere."

Highlighting the lack of rhythm in Germany's play, Basler urged Klopp to curb the midfielder's freedom, warning that his habit of holding onto the ball makes the team easy to read.

He added: "I think Jurgen Klopp has to intervene in the future, because this kind of football isn't going to take us any further if Kimmich dribbles the ball through midfield and slows the game down.

"Kimmich's game has been figured out. You saw that perfectly against Greece yesterday. They know that when he has the ball, he occasionally tries to chip it over the defence. They headed every ball away. That's the truth."

Basler also backed Bastian Schweinsteiger's assessment that Germany have slipped into average territory: "Basti put it perfectly yesterday. We don't have any world-class players anymore. We haven't had any world-class players for years."

Germany is under immediate pressure to stabilise their position in Group A3 after a solitary point from their opening two Nations League outings. Klopp's side host Serbia on Thursday, October 1, before travelling to face Greece on a revenge mission three days later. These back-to-back assignments represent a crucial test for both the manager and his captain to quieten their vocal critics.