Germany vs England: Nations League clash to measure progress as Gareth Southgate's World Cup decisions loom

Gareth Southgate has described England’s Nations League assembly with Germany on the Allianz Arena on Tuesday as a “brilliant test of where we are” as the World Cup attracts nearer.

England head to Munich having suffered a shock 1-0 loss to Hungary of their Group C opener however the assembly with Germany, certainly one of solely 5 remaining fixtures earlier than the 2022 World Cup, represents a far sterner problem.

England will take encouragement from their final assembly with Germany, when Southgate’s aspect triumphed 2-0 at Wembley to safe their place within the Euro 2020 quarter-finals final summer time.

But with Hansi Flick having changed Joachim Low and Germany unbeaten in a yr, can England repeat the feat? And will Southgate’s gamers seize this chance to impress as he ponders his World Cup choice decisions?

World Cup locations up for grabs

Southgate has mentioned he already has a “pretty good idea” of his strongest crew however there are nonetheless locations in his World Cup squad up for grabs as England proceed their preparations for Qatar.

With solely 5 video games remaining between now and November, Southgate is utilizing England’s Nations League marketing campaign to experiment with personnel. “We have not got friendlies to try it, so we have to do it in these types of games,” he mentioned on Saturday.

That experimentation included handing debuts to James Justin and Jarrod Bowen on Saturday.

Leicester full-back Justin endured a tough afternoon, combating a knock earlier than he was withdrawn on the break, however Bowen enhanced his credentials with a constructive efficiency on the right-hand aspect of England’s assault.

Bowen will hope for extra minutes on the Allianz Arena however Southgate has loads of others to contemplate too.

He described Raheem Sterling as “absolutely fine” having been an unused substitute on Saturday, whereas Jack Grealish, Bukayo Saka, Kalvin Phillips and Conor Gallagher are additionally vying for locations within the beginning line-up having been omitted in opposition to Hungary.

John Stones is one other participant within the body for a begin having appeared alongside Southgate at his press convention on Monday and the Manchester City defender admitted he and his team-mates have the World Cup squad firmly of their minds.

“Everyone is fighting for their place at the World Cup and trying to play well,” he mentioned. Southgate added: “The mindset of this group is that they want to push and they want to perform well.

“Every certainly one of them needs to play tomorrow night time, there isn’t any doubting that. There’s big motivation within the group.”

Should Southgate ditch the back three?

One of the biggest decisions facing Southgate ahead of this game centres on England’s formation. Should he persist with a back three or switch to a four?

He favoured a again three in Saturday’s defeat to Hungary, utilizing Kyle Walker, Conor Coady and Harry Maguire at centre-back and James Justin and Trent Alexander-Arnold as wing-backs.

The strategy was met with criticism, nevertheless, with Southgate going through accusations of being overly cautious. It was solely after Kalvin Phillips changed Coady within the 79th minute and England reverted to a again 4 that they lastly started to threaten.

England have after all proven the advantages of utilizing a again three of their main match appearances underneath Southgate, reaching the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and adopting the system once more to overcome Germany on their approach to the Euros ultimate final summer time.

But there’s a rising feeling that, as nicely as being unnecessarily cautious and inhibiting England in an offensive sense, the formation doesn’t go well with sufficient of Southgate’s gamers.

Alexander-Arnold, for instance, is much better suited to enjoying at full-back relatively than wing-back whereas midfielders such as Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice are simpler when there may be an additional midfielder alongside them to cowl their ahead runs.

Southgate defended his choice for a again three on Saturday. “Everybody who started the game is in a position that they have either played regularly with us, or regularly with their club,” he mentioned.

The England boss may additionally remind his critics that England have failed to win two of the final three aggressive video games by which they began with a again 4 relatively than three – drawing 1-1 with Hungary and Poland in World Cup Qualifying.

But it’d take a stronger argument than that to persuade England supporters {that a} again three is the nationwide crew’s future. His system in opposition to Germany may trace at his long-term imaginative and prescient.

Germany mirror Bayern underneath Flick

Germany come into this sport having drawn their final two – in opposition to the Netherlands and Italy – however, with eight consecutive wins earlier than that, they’re unbeaten since being knocked out of Euro 2020 by England a yr in the past at Wembley.

Hansi Flick changed Joachim Low within the wake of that match and the 57-year-old has restored positivity and optimism across the nation’s nationwide crew by putting better emphasis on a big contingent of Bayern Munich gamers.

Flick, himself a former Bayern participant and coach, included seven gamers from his former aspect in his crew to face Italy on Saturday, with Manuel Neuer, Niklas Sule, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka, Thomas Muller, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry all beginning.

It was the primary time since Germany’s triumphant 2014 World Cup marketing campaign that they’ve began a sport with seven Bayern gamers. Low tried to transfer away from the strategy within the latter phases of his reign however Flick has as a substitute chosen to embrace it.

He even makes use of the identical system.

Low used a 3-4-3 form on the Euros however Germany’s present 4-2-3-1 formation, with Muller behind the striker and Gnabry and Sane on the flanks, carefully resembles the one with which Flick received the Champions League whereas answerable for Bayern in 2020.

“You can see elements of what he did with Bayern Munich,” mentioned Southgate at his press convention. “There’s a lot of experience and cohesion of working with him. You can see it in their counter-pressing and the pressing of the forwards especially.”

The Bayern dominance is just not in style with all followers of Germany’s nationwide crew. It additionally serves to spotlight problems with competitiveness within the Bundesliga, the place Bayern have received 10 consecutive titles.

But after eight wins and two attracts from 10 video games because the chastening Euro 2020 marketing campaign, it’s undoubtedly yielding higher outcomes. England will on Tuesday face a Germany aspect far stronger than the one they overcame at Wembley a yr in the past.

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