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Wednesday August 22, 2007 England 1 Germany 2 England: P.Robinson (D.James 45), M.Richards, R.Ferdinand (W.Brown 45), J.Terry, N.Shorey, D.Beckham, F.Lampard, M.Carrick (G.Barry 55), J.Cole (S.Wright-Phillips 70), A.Smith (K.Dyer 57), M.Owen (P.Crouch 57). Friendly internationals should not be pointless but the more you see England play in them the more you think they are. This is not a reaction to a defeat at the hands of Germany, it is just the over-riding feeling you come away with every time one of our friendlies has finished. The substitutions don't help but it is more than that. We play these games and there never seems to be a more coherent pattern of play emerging, nobody ever seems more or less integrated into and comfortable with whatever style or system it is we play and, more than anything else, nobody who impresses in their cameo role ever seems to take that forward and produce it in a game that matters. What have we learnt about our team and players tonight that we didn't know before? Did anything happen that really pointed towards a meaningful improvement? This was not the worst display overall. England made enough chances to win the game and certainly should not have lost it. They did lose, however, because of poor finishing and poor defending, which has never been a good combination. Perhaps the most pressing concern is the goalkeeping of Paul Robinson. Robinson has shown himself to be highly fallible on a regular basis in the last year or two and had another night to forget here. Robinson's major strength has been the lack of any realistic competition but that is not the best attribute in a keeper. Basically he is ripe for dropping. He is not big enough to cock up routine situations. Calamity James has always dropped the odd clanger or three but at least he is big and imposing, is truly magnificent when he is on song and basically is capable of saving things that Robinson's smaller frame won't allow him to get to. If Robinson can't do the basics well every time then he has to go. Onto the action. England, as usual in friendlies, started at a good pace and with plenty of purpose. From the first whistle their attacks were given a real edge by the impish running of Joe Cole on the left hand side of midfield and the powerful surges of Micah Richards from right back. It's nice when our players are Richards's age. They have few expectations and few responsibilities. They are simply allowed to go out on the pitch and express themselves. They play well for a year or so, become fixtures in the side and then the manager starts telling them what they should be doing, making sure they don't run anywhere they shouldn't and then they just become as bland as everyone else in the side. Remember when Fat Frank first got into the side? Remember when Rooney first got into the side? Exciting, influential players who hurt the opposition. How long is it since they did that? Joey Cole had produced one exciting run and Richards had shown up to advantage before the latter was instrumental in England taking a ninth minute lead. Cutting in forcefully from the right Richards produced an astute flick into the path of Lampard who leathered a fierce drive into the German net at the near post. The shot was certainly powerful but questions still needed asking of Jens Lehmann. Paul Robinson would ensure that Jens was not the keeper most under scrutiny come the end of the game, however. England continued to look lively and could have added to their lead but Michael Owen on a couple of occasions and Lampard were unable to accept presentable opportunities. Germany had only a hopeful Hitzlsperger shot to show for their efforts before being gifted an equaliser by the England keeper. Robinson made something of a meal of a shot from outside the box and then came out to kick the rebound towards the touchline rather than gather with his hands. The ball found a lurking German on the right wing who booted it back towards the centre. Whether this was meant as shot or cross was hard to tell but the ball arrowed towards the top near corner and Robinson, all a fluster, simply spooned the ball back into his six yard box where Kuranyi was waiting to gratefully tap in. Minutes later Robinson came for a free kick and got nowhere near it and was only spared further blushes by the fact that Mertesacker's header missed the open goal. Germany did go ahead on the stroke of half time and this time the man at fault was John Terry. Choosing to pass his way out of a tight spot the England captain presented Germany with possession and three passes later Pander unleashed a stunning drive into the corner of the England net. Robinson was probably happy to be beaten by such a quality strike, no-one was going to blame him for that one. England began making their plethora of changes right at the start of the second half and immediately curtailed their own attacking threat. Calamity James came on for Robinson, which was fair enough, but by bringing Wes Brown on for Rio Ferdinand and moving Richards into the centre McClaren removed one of his better attacking options. Still, you could understand him wanting to see Richards in the centre I suppose. Germany had a better command of the ball after the break but without looking unduly bothered about scoring and eventually England began to create a few chances again. Gareth Barry came on into the holding midfield role and looked quality for a few minutes before really getting the hang of his job and totally disappearing. I know everyone loves this position but it still just looks a complete waste of a player to me. Barry showed good skill to set Cole up for a run which ended with a low shot wide of the near post and then Nicky Shorey and Cole made a decent break down the left but there were no takers in the middle. When Shorey next looked to move forward, however, he played an awful ball inside and the Germans broke quickly for a chance which came to nothing and then a long ball out of defence caught Brown and Richards napping but Kuranyi lobbed his volley horribly wide with James totally exposed. David Beckham produced a sweet ball to send Kieron Dyer running through on Lehmann but the keeper got something on the effort and although it squeezed through his legs a defender was able to get back and clear. Then Lampard did well to release Beckham whose low ball across the face of goal picked out Dyer but his sliding shot went wide of the gaping goal. Bad miss. Joey Cole was rested to give club colleague Shaun Wright-Phillips a run on the left wing and the sub made a lively contribution. Cutting inside, Wright-Phillips clipped in a cracking ball that Lampard should have finished at the far post but, stretching, England's midfield fatty could only poke the ball over the bar. Then, from a Beckham corner, Terry saw his header cleared off the line as England pushed for an equaliser. Shorey, Barry and Wright-Phillips combined in what was England's slickest move of the game but this was then ended by a woeful pass to nobody by Dyer. Wright-Phillips produced a nice Ali shuffle to escape two defenders and tested Lehmann with a low drive although, having made the space, a pass might have served England better. Not content with impressing at one end Wright-Phillips then flew back to make an important block after Lampard had missed a tackle. England's last chance to salvage a draw was wasted when Shorey, having done superbly to step his way into the box, sent in a dreadful cross from the left hand side. The game ended with Germany in the England half and Kuranyi came close with a snap shot that deflected just over David James's crossbar. Defeat then but not the worst performance ever and did it really matter? Full Time: England 1 Germany 2 England: P.Robinson 2 (D.James 4), M.Richards 8, R.Ferdinand 4 (W.Brown 4), J.Terry 5, N.Shorey 5, D.Beckham 6, F.Lampard 7, M.Carrick 4 (G.Barry 7), J.Cole 7 (S.Wright-Phillips 8), A.Smith 2 (K.Dyer 4), M.Owen 6 (P.Crouch 4). Star Player: Micah Richards These are heady times for Richards and hopefully he can keep his feet on the ground, keep on performing and keep on improving.
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