Germany again? Yes, you CAN have too much of a good thing
It WAS the minimalist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who popularised the phrase ‘less is more’. It wasn’t original. He took it from his mentor Peter Behrens, who in turn had borrowed it from Robert Browning’s melancholy rumination on art and artists, Andrea del Sarto.
What we can safely assume, however, is that the phrase has never found its way through to the offices of modern football administrators. Some may reside in modernist edifices, some may read poetry, but there all connection ends.
Less is never more in football. More is more. More matches, more competitions, more qualifiers, more showpieces. Scarcity value is an alien concept. Nobody ever wonders if consumers might grow jaded or weary; nobody fears saturating the market. And so it is that in Dortmund tonight, England play Germany — for the sixth time in 10 years.
Don’t worry if you miss it. the same fixture will soon be along again, no doubt. the previous match between England and Germany was on March 26, 2016 — less than 12 months ago. Before that it was November 19, 2013. In the last decade, England and Germany will have met in 2017, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2008 and 2007 — and only one of those games was a competitive fixture. the match between France and England in June will be the fifth time those nations have played in nine years (2017, 2015, 2012, 2010, 2008) and England have played Spain seven times in 16 years (2016, 2015, 2011, 2009, 2007, 2004, 2001).
Since 2007, England have played Germany, Spain and France combined a total of 14 times, and only two of those games were competitive. What were once marquee events in football’s calendar are now repetitious, ho-hum friendlies, between players whose priorities lie elsewhere.
For most of Gareth Southgate’s men, tonight’s game is the least important they will play in March. International line-ups are notoriously fluid at this stage of the season; of the players selected for the last friendly with Spain, nine are not even in the current squad.
Yet, still, the Football Association and federations across Europe persevere with the misplaced concept of prestige friendlies. Yet where is the glamour in an event so commonplace and unexceptional?
In rugby union, the reason the proposed visit of the All Blacks to twickenham had created such excitement is because they haven’t played England in approaching three years. that is a long time considering the autumn internationals bring regular meetings with the best of the Southern Hemisphere each season.
And time was, similar excitement would precede a football match with Germany too. they were occasions, and preciously rare. Before Germany inflicted England’s first loss at the rebuilt Wembley in August 2007, the previous friendly between the countries was in Detroit on June 19, 1993 as part of the US Cup.
the last friendly meeting at the old Wembley was on September 11, 1991. So those meetings felt special, even if the outcome was sadly predictable. It is a sign of the downgraded status of recent encounters that England have started winning. Between victories in 1975 and 2008, England got the beating of Germany in a single friendly. Now they have won two of the last three — a parity that is not reflected in tournaments. It is not that England are trying harder, but when both teams are going through the motions, random outcomes occur.
In the last match, leading 1-0 at half-time, Germany took off their most experienced defender, Mats Hummels, brought on 20-year- old Jonathan tah for his debut, and lost 3-2. the result was incidental, or they would not have done it.
As these marquee matches become familiar, so the spectacle declines. England’s comeback in Berlin last time was a decent finale, but who has great recall of England 0 Germany 1 on November 19, 2013 — or England 1 Germany 2 with Nicky Shorey at left back, August 22, 2007? these games pass without trace, much like the 1-0 home defeat by Spain in 2007, memorable only for the 12-minute cameo that constitutes Joey Barton’s senior England career.
the irony is that the best and most meaningful friendly matches, the ones that possess some bite and worth, are not against the cantering European elite. By far the most satisfying friendly fixture of the new Wembley era was a humdinger of a 1-1 draw with Ghana in 2011.
FABIO CAPELLO sent home five of his senior players — including Wayne Rooney, John terry and Frank Lampard — after a competitive game with Wales, and was accused of betraying the fixture. Ghana then arrived with their dander up, 21,000 fans going bonkers, and didn’t give a hoot. they equalised through Asamoah Gyan in the 90th minute of a fabulous game.
Capello came on the television with a goofy grin, having just conceded a last-minute goal. It was marvellous fun in a way most friendly internationals are not. England would be better playing countries that see Wembley as the grandest of stages, and come to win, or at least show off.
Remember Rene Higuita’s scorpion kick for Colombia in 1995? England can play Germany every year for the next century and that is not going to happen. Yet it will only get worse, now UEFA have decided to pit equivalent strength countries against each other in a Nations League — working in addition to the standard qualification process for the 2020 European Championship.
the format is too convoluted and bogus to set out here, but suffice to say it means more matches against the same opposition, with UEFA now in for a cut, too. For money is at the root, once again. this is why, in football, less never does mean more: because more is all anyone cares about.