England 2-0 Germany: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations

• Germany lose by a deserved margin and crash out of the tournament. Honestly, they were poorly coached, plenty of key players underperformed, and the team spirit just wasn’t there. Overall an awful showing in this tournament.
• Joachim Low leaves this job on a low note. Honestly, it came far too late. Now it’s up to Hansi Flick to restore Germany to its former level.
• Thomas Muller’s miss is going to be talked about as the big game changer moment for Germany, but honestly at no moment did they play well enough to deserve a good result. England were better, Southgate’s tactics were better.
• Poor substitutions from Jogi. Where was Musiala? Why didn’t he come on earlier?
• Overall, a bad day to be a Germany fan. Hopefully, there are better times ahead.

FT: Game over. England beat Germany 2-0 and progress to the next round.

86’ — Goal! Germany are going out! 2-0 to England courtesy of Harry Kane.

75’ — Goal! Raheem Sterling makes it 1-0! Well there goes Germany.

67’ — Substitutions: Serge Gnabry on for Timo Werner, while Jack Grealish on for Saka.

45’ — The second half is underway! Will we see some goals?

Halftime observations and analysis

• Mats Hummels is keeping it level for Germany right now. His last-ditch tackle on Harry Kane was almost miraculous.
• Germany started the game well but eventually dropped off, allowing the English to take the initiative. Harry Maguire’s runs into midfield is keeping the Germans from stamping their authority in the middle.
• England got away with two bad challenges that could’ve seen both of their DM’s sent off. Rice’s tackle on Goretzka and Phillips’ tackle on Kroos should’ve been punished with more than mere yellows.
• Robin Gosens has struggled to get involved yet again.
• Werner maybe should have scored the chance he had, but the fact is that Germany have not created enough chances. Bring on Musiala or Gnabry in the second half.

Half time: Both teams are still level.

Kickoff: We’re underway! Both Southgate and Low are mirroring each other with a 3-4-3 formation. Whose 3-4-3 will be better?

One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Goretzka starts and Werner comes in for Gnabry. Let’s hope Musiala is an option in the later stages of the match.

It’s the last day of the Round of 16, and after yesterday’s matches, these games have a lot to live up to. Germany face England at Wembley Stadium in a game that holds a lot of significance to both teams, the home side in particular.

Both the sides show parallels coming into the tournament. England coach Gareth Southgate has been criticized for being too conservative and failing to make use of this generation of English talent, while Joachim Low has often been under fire for assembling an underperforming team, despite having a large number of Bayern Munich and Chelsea players in his squad.

Both teams may deploy in a 3-man backline, and it could end up being a tense battle to attrition to see who comes out on top. Let’s hope Germany have what it takes, because the English home crowd will definitely be behind their team when the whistle blows.

Match Info

Location: Wembley Stadium, London, England

Time: 18:00 CEST

TV/streaming: ESPN+, Find Your Country

Tips for commenting:

1. If you’re a new member, feel free to introduce yourself. We’re mostly very friendly! Also, we’re from all parts of the world so don’t feel shy if you’re from a country that doesn’t seem represented on the blog.
2. SBN is a little slow to show new comments. Refresh the page regularly to keep up with the discussion, especially after goals.
3. The goal celebrations are for everyone to participate in! Even if you’re lagging behind the others, keep replying to the most recent call of the player’s name. Even if you missed the first call, just start from the second, and so on.
4. While swearing is allowed within reason, please be polite to your fellow posters and avoid gratuitous obscenities. Racist, homophobic, and misogynistic language is not allowed whatsoever.

Check out our beginners thread if you have any more questions. That’s about it. Auf geht’s!

Looking for an unending well of Bayern Munich content? Sign up for an SBNation account and join the conversation on Bavarian Football Works. Whether it’s full match coverage and analysis, breaking news or something completely different, we have it all.