So much for the stereotype of the humourless German. On the eve of tonight’s friendly against the Three Lions at Wembley, Germany coach Joachim Low demonstrated his wit by describing his hosts as “the strongest England team in years”.
Then again Low said it with a straight-face so perhaps he was being serious. In which case did he see England lose to Iceland in last year’s European Championships? Did he watch their embarrassingly early exit from the 2014 World Cup? Has he tuned in to any of their games recently, like last month’s mind-numbingly tedious 1-0 victory over Slovenia.
He may not have. When you’re coach of Germany why waste your time watching mediocrity when you’re surrounded by winners?
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The world champions arrive for tonight’s friendly knowing history is on their side. Germany have won their last six encounters at Wembley – including the penalty shootout triumph at Euro 96 - and one has to go back to 1975 for the last time they tasted defeat at the stadium, although England did beat East Germany 1-0 in 1984. England, in fairness, have won three times in Germany this century but arguably football’s most famous international rivalry has been horribly one-sided in the last couple of decades.
England’s chances of breaking their losing streak haven’t been helped by the withdrawal of six players - including Manchester City striker Raheem Sterling and the Tottenham trio of Dele Alli, Harry Winks and Harry Kane - but Germany are also without a few mainstays such as Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Marco Reus and Leon Goretzka. On the plus side for the visitors, Mario Gotze and Ilkay Gundogan will both feature this evening after a long spell on the sidelines through injury.
England’s absentees mean a debut for Ruben Loftus-Cheek, the 21-year-old midfielder who has thrived at Crystal Palace since arriving on loan from Chelsea. “This period between qualification and the finals has to have an element of experimentation,” said Gareth Southgate. “If we don’t try things in these games, when are we going to try things? Germany took a really young team to the Confederations Cup... they are brave enough to take decisions that might get result or might not. They are constantly improving and evolving as a team. In my view that’s what we have to do.”
Not only did Germany take a young team to the Confederations Cup in July but they won the tournament, beating Chile 1-0 in the final. Eight of that side were eligible to play for Germany in the Under-21s European Championship, held the previous month, but Low chose to expose them to senior football. Not that they were missed. Germany also won the under-21 Euros, underlining their impressive strength in depth.
England have had a pretty good year on the junior international stage too, winning both the under-20 and under-17 World Cups, so perhaps in a few years the rivalry between the two countries will once more be red hot. “We’re not at the same stage, because Germany’s plan has been in place for a lot longer and they are already world champions,” said Southgate, when the question was posed. “We have been further behind as a country. This [St George’s Park] was only built five years ago, the work with the younger teams, the new work, only started in the last three or four years. But you can see the progress that is being made.”
England are still very much a work in progress but tonight gives them the chance to measure themselves against a team who seem to progress every season.
