England vs Germany: Bild player ratings

Germany's 3-3 draw with England has brought mixed feelings on the readiness of Hansi Flick's side for the World Cup, and it's reflected in the media ratings — which feature considerable variability for both sides, while handing a noncommital middle-of-the-road ‘3’ — to be sure, the number and theme of the day — to each manager.

Here’s how it looked, according to Bild:

England ratings

On the England side, Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham were certainly standouts, while Luke Shaw (Manchester United) got in on the scoring and delivered some outstanding service to the front line. It’s to Germany’s credit that Manchester City forwards Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden were so restrained. They were not bad so much as Germany were good.

Meanwhile, the key Southgate subs — Arsenal FC’s Bukayo Saka and Chelsea FC’s Mason Mount — were game-changers both. Saka failed to score in the 90th minute, but could hardly have done better after being cleverly closed down — just bout — by Germany’s İlkay Gündoğan.

Manchester United center-back Harry Maguire had a horror show. He was toyed with by Jamal Musiala, which is no shame on its own, but even the penalty he gave away resulted after he passed the ball straight to the German attacker in build-up.

Germany ratings

Coach Hansi Flick set up his team well to take the likes of Sterling and Foden out of the game — with some help from FC Barcelona keeper Marc-André ter Stegen, of course. But a lack of reaction to Southgate subs that allowed not only a midfield turnaround but three goals within ten minutes is a serious warning sign.

In attack, Gladbach’s Jonas Hofmann and Bayern Munich’s Leroy Sané did not have similar days. Sané struggled to get into truly influential positions in the first half, but the balance in offense did not appear to be quite right, and he wasn’t the reason why. Better composure from Timo Werner on two occasions might have resulted in two goals for him — it’s not so different from Kai Havertz, who headlined the scoring but wasn’t a dominant force himself.

Hofmann had the worst day in attack and looked off the pace, at least for what he was asked to do. His half-time hooking was appropriate, but perhaps even still that was down to Flick’s line-up — had Timo Werner been creating space from the opposite flank, perhaps Hofmann would have been the threat we saw in June.

In defense, West Ham’s Thilo Kehrer was solid if unremarkable, but looked very much like a player with a role to play in the Qatar. He was in the area code on Luke Shaw’s goal, but it was already 3-on-3 in the center as the cross came in, not including Shaw.

Schlotterbeck’s harsh rating is more deserved. He had good moments but also incredibly shaky ones, especially on the second goal and his conceded penalty. He does not look like a World Cup starter.

Finally, there’s Werner — who for all the truly agonizing misses that have come to define him, still changed the game after coming on at the half. He was the key to breaking this game open for Germany, and considering he also had an assist, seems the most hard done by in these ratings. It’s hard to imagine a first-choice attacking lineup without him right now against teams like England, but the quality and variety of options — as opposed to a clear plan and clear focal points — might just be this team’s Achilles heel.

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