WHAT A CHEEK!
England No 10 looks to be World Cup gem after stunning debut
Forget about the scoreline for a moment. gareth Southgate certainly will. A manager does not win or lose these games; not really. Not in the usual way, at least.
He measures his success in what is otherwise intangible. Did he find one? Could he cross one out? Did they do what they were told? Did they keep the shape?
So, all in all, it was a good night. If the result makes the game sound dull, we’ve seen worse. And if we think germany had unused gears, that was true of england, too. Certainly, they had some unused players, a list of absentees that could have comprised another team. this was england’s least experienced starting XI ENGLAND (4-4-2): Pickford; Trippier (Walker 72), Jones (Gomez 25), Stones, Rose (Bertrand 71); Maguire, Livermore (Cork 86), Dier, Loftus-Cheek; Vardy (Lingard 86), Abraham (Rashford 60). Subs not used: Hart, Keane, Young, Cahill. Booked: Livermore, Gomez. GERMANY (4-5-1): Ter Stegen; Kimmich, Rudiger, Hummels, Ginter; Gundogan (Rudy 86), Ozil, Halstenberg, Draxler (Can 67) Sane (Brandt 87); Werner (Wagner 73). Subs not used: Trapp, Boateng, Gotze, Leno, Khedira, Plattenhardt. Stindl, Sule. since 1980. When defender Phil Jones went off after 25 minutes, Southgate lost the player in his team with the most caps: 20.
So, in the circumstances, not succumbing to a germany side on the back of their best winning run since 1995 afforded hope, particularly as Southgate had elevated technical ability above rugged defence in his back three.
Best of all, though, he gave five players debuts and found two serious contenders amid that bunch in goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and ruben LoftusCheek. And if others, such as tammy Abraham, may have been promoted too soon — well, at least Southgate now knows.
that is what these fixtures are about. Knowing. Knowing who is ready, knowing who is not. Kieran trippier is now a genuine rival to Kyle Walker at right-back. He is the best crosser of a ball england have had since David Beckham.
Harry Maguire is a work in progress, but merits further chances at centre-half and his relationship with John Stones grew more comfortable as the game wore on. Jones is becoming the defender we hoped he would be, although his injuries remain a worry.
And yes, it was a friendly, with all that entails from masses of substitutions to an invasion of paper aeroplanes. Yet these matches have worth. gary Neville impressed first in a friendly tournament, and Southgate will have to consider promoting Pickford in his pecking order after this.
He made exceptional saves, his distribution was excellent — and, one shot from Leroy Sane that found him wanting aside, he was in control throughout. LoftusCheek, too, played with real confidence in the heart of midfield and was awarded man-of-thematch honours on his debut.
With england so short in his position, one good game there means more than it does in other areas. Loftus-Cheek may have played himself into World Cup contention in just 90 minutes.
‘In the first half we needed a couple of really good saves from Jordan Pickford,’ said Southgate.
‘We caused our own problems with a couple of those. But we posed our own questions and I thought we used the ball well.
‘ruben Loftus-Cheek did everything I know he can do. It took him ten minutes to realise he is okay at this level. He is capable of anything. He has the physical attributes and can handle the ball.
‘He will gain huge confidence from it. there will be harder tests as the likes of germany will have another gear to go to.’
Southgate has every reason to be pleased because playing youth at this level is problematic. After england Under-17s won the World Cup, a very experienced manager, who spends much of his time observing youth football and is very familiar with the group, said that none of the players — not even breakout star Phil Foden — are ready for the Premier League.
Southgate deserves credit for answering his latest crisis with promotions from the Under-21s, but the step up is sizable. At times when germany broke so quickly, or passes went astray under pressure, the gulf was terrifying.
take the first two minutes. At 24, Maguire is not a prodigy, merely inexperienced at this level. His first touch was close to calamitous, however, an under-hit back pass that would have put timo Werner in were it not for the quick reactions of Pickford.
Immediately, there came further evidence of england’s rawness. Jamie Vardy hit a lovely cross into the six-yard box. tammy Abraham was in a great position, but missed his kick. It was the start of a series of gaffes by the Chelsea-cum-Swansea striker. In Abraham’s defence, it is too soon. Yet with so many players from tottenham and Manchester City withdrawing, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho may have needed placating with regard to the load falling on Marcus rashford. Maybe Southgate steered a diplomatic path, starting rashford in only one of the two games. No doubt he is earmarked for Brazil on tuesday.
So it fell to Abraham to lead england’s line with mixed results. He got into excellent positions but often failed to capitalise. After Sane struck the bar, Werner had a shot saved by Pickford; when the rebound fell to Sane, he was denied on the line by a header from Jones who was struggling and limped off.
Pickford saved well from Werner, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Vardy either side of half-time. In the final minute a rashford freekick picked out Maguire, who headed back across goal and Jesse Lingard smashed it over.
It was england’s first goalless draw at Wembley in seven years. Not that Southgate will care. In his world, it’s a win.