Critical Germany Remind England It’s About Performances, Not Results, Right Now

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at Internationaled.org

Published: November 20, 2013

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WEMBLEY, LONDON—Before a satisfied Joachim Low left his post-match press conference following Germany’s friendly victory on Tuesday evening, an engagement he had conducted entirely in German, he offered a few words in near-perfect English.

Low thanked the Football Association for inviting his country to play at Wembley, and for the hospitality afforded to them during their stay. “We will see you at the World Cup!” he concluded.

It was meant (and delivered) as a cheery signing-off note between friends, yet England fans may be forgiven for reading it almost as a warning.

Edged in almost every department by a weakened Germany team on the night—another defeat to the old enemy to add to a one-sided list—there can be little Roy Hodgson will be wanting less than to meet them again in Brazil next summer, four years on from the 4-1 knockout defeat in South Africa that sent England into the self-hating and self-doubting spiral it is still trying to escape from.

Little should be read into friendlies, certainly far less than some of the newspapers will doubtless devote on Wednesday. This match, the penultimate game before both coaches name their provisional World Cup squads in more than six months’ time, was a crucial chance to assess personnel options and tactical variations, not a "must-win" encounter.

Hence starts for Tom Cleverley, Adam Lallana, Roman Weidenfeller and Max Kruse, to single out just four.



“I wanted to do some experimentation with players, Jogi [Low] did too,” Hodgson noted afterwards. “I certainly learned a lot from the match. You would have to ask him to find out if he did too.”

It seems Low did, although his concerns appeared to be as much about the implementation of tactical concepts as the auditions of fringe players.

"When we approach the World Cup there are several issues that wil...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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