All the goals Germany have conceded at Euro 2020 have come from diagonal balls into space and Raheem Sterling could be the man to exploit the weakness at Wembley“Gareth Southgate, the whole of England is with you!” Is it, though? As Southgate prepares to send his injury-free, defensively unbreached, quietly purposeful England team into the last-16 tie against Germany on Tuesday night, two things stand out.First, it is hard to recall such a talented, well-set England team approaching a tournament knockout tie so grudgingly praised in their own country. Welcome to England 2021, a place where even the football feels a little seasick right now. Related: Hitting on the counter is the smart option for England to beat Germany |...
I remember Germany’s wins in 1990 and 1996, but perhaps this time England will finally find their heroMy first memories as a football fan are to do with England. I rooted for my national team in the semi-final duels in 1990 and 1996. Germany won both games on penalties and went on to win the titles. England could have won both times, too.I was impressed by the endless energy of Paul Gascoigne. He was the most dazzling but also tragic figure. In 1990, he was in tears after he received a second yellow card which would have suspended him for the final. In 1996, he was 20cm short of scoring the golden goal in extra time. He slipped past the...
Yet to concede at these Euros, if Gareth Southgate gets his team right, they could carve open a creaky German defenceJoachim Löw’s side conceded five goals in their three group games, showing Gareth Southgate there are frailties to be exposed in the Germany defence. A change in formation could be key to England’s chances of success, as it would give Southgate the requisite weaponry to make the most of Germany’s vulnerability to the counter-attack.Germany flood numbers forward, attack with six and press aggressively so hitting them on the counter is a smart option. France, Portugal and Hungary made the most of the problems Löw’s defence have exhibited. Switching to a back three, which could become a five, being compact and...
How to counter Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens is one of a string of conundrums the England manager must solveNothing in football is ever straightforward. There are few rights and few wrongs; almost everything is contingent. But even within that context, England’s game against Germany on Tuesday is hard to pin down. There are few certainties for either side; rather this is two swarms of questions buzzing into each other.At least with Germany, there is relative certainty about the shape. Joachim Löw has vacillated between a back three and a back four since the World Cup debacle before finally settling on a 3-4-3, in which the real strength is the attacking prowess of the wing-backs, Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens....
Our national team is a minor cast member on European stage, and militaristic jingoism is only damaging to ourselves“ACHTUNG! SURRENDER.” The Daily Mirror’s front page on the morning of England v Germany at Euro 96, the last big Wembley occasion a bit like the next big Wembley occasion, made a huge impression at the time.And not because it was particularly inane or stupid, although it was also those things, but because people liked it. It was (kind of) funny in canned-laughter sort of way. Mainly, it said all the things. Related: Lothar Matthäus: ‘We’re favourites if England v Germany goes to penalties’ | Ed Aarons Related: Denmark and rainbow-lit stadiums have shown the way forward on inclusion | Philip Lahm...