Joachim Löw’s Germany aim to be the roadblock in England’s bout to bring football home

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With the latest instalment of the England versus Germany tournament saga just 24 hours away, confidence amongst the English could not be more different.

The sides have faced off competitively 11 times, the first being when football came home originally. England have won just three times in competitive fixtures compared to Die Mannschaft’s six, the last being that infamous game at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

A day not many will want to remember for many reasons, the Frank Lampard ghost goal topping the list but the collapse following the decision is a blueprint for England this time around for what not to do.

Since that game in Bloemfontein, England’s side has changed dramatically. The average age of the side in that World Cup was 28.4, now it is 24.8. Also, the FA has returned back to appointing Englishmen to the managerial role with Roy Hodgson and Sam Allardyce predeceasing the current manager, Gareth Southgate.

On the other hand, the average age of the German squad has risen from 25 to 27, in contrast to the England squad, however, Joachim Löw has remained the manager since. At least until his assistant from the 2010 World Cup, Hansi Flick, takes over from him after this summer’s tournament.

England seem to have evolved in the 11 years since South Africa with none of the squad members from 11 years ago today in the current set-up, with them being replaced by new, exhilarating stars shining through. The likes of Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Mason Mount and Jadon Sancho all were in footballing academies the last time this fixture was played on the competitive scene.

The Germans, on the other hand, have a side mixed with older and younger talent, the youth of Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz headline the squad whilst also the experienced, yet still world-class, Thomas Müller, Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer remain in the squad.

What must not be overshadowed is the importance of this game. From an English perspective, the rivalry against Germany is always a match that brings tension and excitement to the nation whilst also bringing memories from the past that more recently haven’t been filled with joy.

For Germany, this wouldn’t be classed as a rivalry. In recent years, Die Mannschaft have never really been threatened by the England side and so the focus for Löw’s side is on the bigger picture.

Arguably the winner of this game has the easiest path to the European Championship final, facing the Swedes or Ukrainians before either Denmark or the Czech Republic meaning that either side won’t have to face the likes of France or Belgium, who are both on the other side of the bracket until the final if they get through.

Without a doubt, things must change in both camps. The knockout stages pose a very different type of fixture to the group games, but both sides have elements to their game that have caused concerns for their respective fans.

For the Three Lions, there is an evident lack of goals within the squad, whilst having some of the most exciting forwards in their squad. Scoring only two goals in this tournament so far, there’s a lack of ruthlessness that in their last major tournament cost England a place in the final and still seems to not have been learnt from.

With their captain, Harry Kane still yet to score, it really does pose the question of what can be or should be changed. The forward is influential, and off the ball, he creates space for the three behind him to move into. Being deemed one of the best, if not the best striker in world football, the lack of goal contributions really does create a worrying scenario.

If we look back to the World Cup, Kane was incredible. The opponents that Southgate’s side faced weren’t excellent, but Kane seemed to be on fire. The same cannot be said currently, and with the only real back-up to Kane being Dominic Calvert-Lewin, there aren’t any major differences between the two playstyles the strikers possess.

That being said though, at the back, Southgate has formed an extremely resolute backline, that as of right now, are the only side in the tournament yet to concede. With the Czech Republic’s fine showing against the Netherlands, what seemed a poor 1-0 win for England at the time, could actually be looked at as a very impressive result.

These kind of results in hindsight aren’t as bad as potentially originally thought to be. However, against sides such as Belgium and France, there are a lot more players who can and more importantly will cause a difference in the latter stages.

On the other hand, with the Germans though, it has been a strange tournament so far, beating Portugal, drawing to Hungary and losing to the favourites, France.

It’s been a very touch and go showing so far and the Portugal game showcased exactly what needed to be done, the ability to dominate one of the favourites for this tournament and broke down the high line perfectly. The Hungary game, however, showed that the Germans aren’t potentially as good as what was thought after the game against the Seleção.

In the wider picture though, the timing of the game just seems to be the perfect time for this England side and more specifically Southgate to finally get one over on the Germans. The game takes place, a day after the 11th anniversary of the game in South Africa and 25 years after Southgate’s penalty miss in Euro 1996, coincidentally in the same stadium.

The only thing left to really say is England versus Germany, back at Wembley, has all the marks to be an absolute classic.

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