RUBEN COULD BE A DIAMOND

Polished debut from Palace loan star and keeper Pickford gives England a nudge too

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, manage the situation?

So, all in all, it was a good night. If the result makes the game sound dull, well, we’ve certainly seen worse. And if we think germany had some 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 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 Loftus-Cheek. 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 the national team 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 (right) is becoming the defender we hoped he would be, although his injuries remain a terrible 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 confidence in the heart of midfield and was awarded man- of- the- match 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 well have played himself into World Cup contention in just 90 minutes. 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 personnel crisis with promotions from the Under 21 ranks, but the step up to senior football — even non-competitive — 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, and with Southgate insisting his back three should be comfortable on the ball, he had to be tried. 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, who had a good game, sped down the left flank and hit a lovely cross into the six- yard box. tammy Abraham got into 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, he should not have been out there. It is too soon. His loan move is going well, but he is not among the best strikers in the country yet, and were Southgate blessed with a deeper pool, Abraham would be on the bench at best.

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 on them. one through pass was over-hit by a good 20 yards; another square ball shot straight into touch. His deflected effort won a corner just before half-time and, to his credit, he was always available, always looking for the ball. He needs more time, though. When germany promote through their ranks, their young players have considerably more experience.

It showed with the next generation here. germany’s game management was excellent going forward, operating between england’s lines, nipping behind defensive shield and captain eric Dier, quick and enterprising on the break.

In Sane, they possess an exceptional talent who could have scored one of Wembley’s great goals to open the scoring after 21 minutes. He picked up the ball on the edge of the area, looked up, spotted Pickford slightly off his line and hit one. Pickford, for once, was nowhere. He slung an arm up and the ball ricocheted down off the bar and away to safety. He didn’t have a clue about it really.

Soon after came a german break that epitomised their style. Swiftly in behind Dier again and into england’s back three. First, Werner had a shot saved by Pickford; when the rebound fell to Sane, he was denied on the line by a header from Jones; finally Julian Draxler put the third attempt over.

It was the last part Jones played in the game. Struggling with injury from early, he had elected to play on, but this last act of courage was too much. He limped off, replaced by Joe gomez.

Pickford saved well from Werner, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen from Vardy either side of half-time, but in the final minute of the game, england could have won.

A rashford free-kick picked out Maguire at the far post, he 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 greatly about that, mind you. In his world, it’s a win.