Dull sort of a game I thought, with some effort in the last 20 mins finally shown by England against a pretty bog ordinary Germany. Havertz for Germany was head and shoulders best on field, but how the mighty have fallen. Too many players past their best at the same time, and too little bringing through new blood last couple of years. Thought England defence was excellent, McGuire stood out and Stones is back in form. Sterling and the Arsenal kid were dangerous, Kane must have dropped 50mill in value for his performances in this tournament, mid field of Rice and the Leeds lad not much chop either. You can only beat what's in front of you and England did just that without ever looking brilliant or in trouble. Finals should be possible now, but more flair and attacking skill needs to be used by Southgate.
Klose retiring, followed by Khadeira & Ozil ripped the heart out of the German team that won the WC in '14, not looked anywhere near the same level since then. As to the style of play, it's tournament football, the key objective is not to lose. We've controlled every game from the centre of the park, so why you think the CM isn't much chop is beyond me.
I'm with CP on this, not saying the centre pairing has played badly but it could be better and not so pragmatic. We need more flair and creation from the centre of the field so one defensive midfielder should be enough if you play with a back four and use a number 10 just behind a front 3 would still keep the defensive integrity intact but also make the forward play more incisive, but you need the players to do this and we have them in abundance, however Southgate is not brave enough to play them. Not going to criticise any individual after beating the Germans but I just thought we should have done it with more style and don't forget a massive amount of luck that got us past them. Ukraine will be a harder game, they have nothing to lose and nothing to prove, and some fine players too.
Simply because they didn't create much if anything for the forwards against Germany. Almost all the attack came down the sidelines with the midfield constantly watching long passes go over their heads. Havertz was all over the midfield by himself. They were playing to instructions no doubt as Rice in particular can cause plenty of damage when allowed. Southgate will need to up the quality of the attack and he's got plenty sitting on the sidelines.
