Thanks for joining me for England’s latest defeat.
Here is Suzanne Wrack’s report.
Germany were just more efficient in the end, they were not mind blowing but looked more clinical going forward.
A momentous occasion for England is followed by five minutes of analysis and then Dad’s Army.
Nobbs failed to get in the game, which is a shame as she continues to come back from injury.
C Noyes says: “Would relish an England-US gold medal match, in part because we would win: for whatever reason, Neville’s England team can’t put 90 minutes together. Their fitness also looks questionable - Germany were well on top over the last 15. England continue to look highly suspect at the back. Would fancy Press, Heath, Lavelle running at that back line.
“In sum: There is only really one team in the world at the moment, and it’s ours.”
Neville seems to be missing the point that nothing seems to be improving ...
Neville: “It was a killer blow late on. I think we competed really well. Late on we did not use our experience in terms of keeping the ball and game management.
“The players are devastated as they wanted to get a good result.
“The results aren’t good enough but I’ve got to say there’s a long term and results make people believe our long-term plan.
“Moments are costing us.”
On his future being questioned: “I don’t listen to those types of people who say those types of things.”
Positives for England: White looked good in front of goal and Walsh needs to be a regular in this team.
It was a fine occasion with so many people inside Wembley but Phil Neville has more questions than answers. Parris missed her third successive England penalty, Earps did not prove herself as a potential No 1 and Williamson showed plenty of inexperience.
Full-time: England 1-2 Germany
Another England friendly under Phil Neville where the only thing we have learned is that his side can’t put a decent 90 minutes together. He can state he is trying to test different tactical theories but that cannot explain why they are so sloppy and slow for the majority of a match.
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90+2 mins: An underwhelming finish for the England fans at Wembley who have witnessed another average performance. The final third of the match have been very little to write home about from an England perspective.
GOAL! England 1-2 Germany (Buhl, 90)
England have been terrible in the last few minutes; they have failed to close down all shots and crosses and it really is amateur. Marozsan takes advantage to lay the ball into Buhl who is guided into the box by Houghton who fails to close her down and then Buhl whacks the ball into the corner across Earps.
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89 mins: Buhl picks up a half-cleared cross, cuts back inside and strikes a lot shot but Houghton blocks to stop it flying in.
87 mins: England have played well for about a third of this game, which is becoming far too regular a trait for the national team. How do you get a team to reach their optimum for the full 90?
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85 mins: Taylor powers her way through the Germany defence and then plays it through for Bronze to chase but the defence just about get it clear.
83 mins: Phil makes the valuable point: “Could they not have dragged in 9 random individuals off the street to make the attendance a nice, round 77, 777 ?? I guess not, there are laws against that sort of thing.”
I was very excited when the announcement got to the third seven and was then let down.
81 mins: The latest poor challenge from a Germany players sees Leupolz foul Scott about five seconds after the ball had gone. Daly tries to balance things out with a late one on Magull. It’s all quite scrappy out there.
79 mins: Williamson gets done easily on the edge of the box, she looks like she has nothing left to give and should be the next person to be withdrawn. Neville looks soaked on the touchline.
77 mins: Stanway is also on now, taking the place of Nobbs. England have a very attacking lineup out there now.
75 mins: The tempo of this game has dropped dramatically in the last few minutes. It is probably related to the number of subs and everyone else being very tired.
73 mins: Greenwood takes about a minute to take a throw-in and is then penalised for a foul throw. That will not be a highlight of her international career.
A triple change for England, as Daly, Hemp and Taylor come on. A bold move to swap the front three.
71 mins: A Germany corner hits an attacker on the back and loops into Earps’ arms.
Dabritz is replaced by Leupolz, who takes the armband just after the assistant referee tries to drop the numbers board on her foot.
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69 mins: Nobbs is face down on the turf after catching her ankle in the turf. Not what you want to see when she’s just come back from an ACL injury.
67 mins: Scott earns a free-kick on the edge of the box on the right-hand side. Greenwood decides to shoot from the set-piece but her shot goes a long way over.
The biggest roar of the game comes after the attendance is announced as 77, 768, the highest ever for a women’s game in England.
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65 mins: Germany make a double change with Knack and Bremer coming on. England are starting to look very tired out there, so surely Neville will start swapping things around.
63 mins: Disallowed goal! Buhl spins on the edge of the box and whacks a low shot towards goal which Earps can only parry, allowing Magull to slide the rebound into the corner but the flag is up as she is well offside and the goal is ruled out.
We’re beyond the hour mark here, so surely the subs will be coming soon.
61 mins: Greenwood swings in another corner but it’s overhit and cleared for a throw-in.
59 mins: There seems to be a growing level of bitterness between the two sets of players with a few fouls and general shouting at each other, not aided by some poor tackles by Germany.
57 mins: I have some terrible news: there is a Mexican wave going round the stadium. Stop it!
White gets the wrong side of Doorsoun and tries to take the ball into the area, she then goes down under pressure from the defender on the edge of the box but the referee is having none of it. Doorsoun then shouts at White on the ground claiming she dived. They was a coming together but nothing else.
55 mins: There was a bit of a delay due to Parris’ injury. I don’t see much point in trying to make her carry on in these circumstances but she is back on the pitch for some reason or other.
53 mins: Kleinherne is the latest to go into the book. The full-back whacked the back of Parris’ Achilles inadvertently and the England winger is lying on the turf in agony. It seemed pretty trivial but Parris let out a horrible cry when caught.
51 mins: The ball is played into the channel for White, who takes it on and hits a cross along the six-yard line but Mead had given up on getting into the box. If she had carried on her run, she would have had a great chance to tap it in.
49 mins: Both teams have been relatively sloppy in the opening stages here, passes going astray and the odd foul.
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47 mins: A pretty mundane start to the second half.
Here is C Noyes again: “England don’t need to be playing well to beat you because they conjure goals out of nothing against the run of play. That’s why they are so dangerous. Compare with France, a team that needs to outplay you to beat you, and which seems to assume that outplaying you automatically means they win. Our US team can deal with that all day. But we struggle to contain this England team because disrupting the rhythm of their play doesn’t prevent them scoring on you. The Lionesses are the team we fear at the moment.”
Second-half
Here we go again!
Phil Neville: “For 22 minutes I thought the occasion was too much. Then after 22 minutes we started to play like an England team.
“The goal was perfect. Germany showed in the first 20 minutes why they’re such a good team.”
England’s performance against Brazil so very similar to this, except it took them until the second-half to get into the match. I wonder why they start so slowly. Neville needs to sort that out.
Oh ... so that’s what Strictly Come Dancing is. I won’t be turning over, sadly, Alex.
C Noyes makes a couple of points: “As an American that combination of Walsh-White scares me. Stop it already, Lionesses. We like our trophies.
“I’ve seen a worse foul that Doorsoun’s: Millie Bright on Alex Morgan, 84’ minute of the WC semifinal.”
Some slightly one-eye views there.
Kelly Smith is very angry that Ellen White refuses to take penalties as she does not like to do so. Smith seems genuinely annoyed that someone is turning down easy goals.
Doorsoun’s foul is shown once again and it really is heinous. She hit her right on the knee cap. You will not see a worse challenge this weekend (I hope).
I am not sure I did White’s finish justice.
ABSOLUTE SCENES! pic.twitter.com/vShnOT17pw
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) November 9, 2019
Half-time: England 1-1 Germany
I did say before the game that Walsh is key due to her passing abilities and she proved it with that beguiling pass over the top. England were pretty woeful for the opening 30 minutes but they have been on top since and could be ahead if it wasn’t for the failed penalty.
GOAL! England 1-1 Germany (White, 44)
Walsh lifts a superb, curling pass into the box from a central position, which White runs onto and diverts the ball beyond the goalkeeper with a fantastic first-time finish. The Germans want the flag to go up but the assistant ignores them.
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42 mins: The problem with the early attempts to play out from the back is that it was all too slow. Now England have upped the tempo and are looking to pass the ball around with speed at both ends, they are putting pressure on Germany.
40 mins: Greenwood whips in a corner from the right but Germany win the header. Mead switches flanks to the right and directs a pass into Parris but her first touch is poor and the goalkeeper slides out to collect. White is told off by the referee for trying to stop Frohms from clearing.
38 mins: Popp has tried to shoot from the halfway but her effort is embarrassingly weak and it trickles towards the box for Earps to collect. An odd decision from Popp.
Missed penalty!
36 mins: White does well to slip the ball through for Mead, who just beats the goalkeeper to the ball and is brought down by Frohms. Parris steps up, whacks it straight down and it is saved by Frohms’ feet. That is three she’s missed on the trot.
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35 mins: Germany’s goalkeeper and two centre-backs pass the ball in a triangle for a while until England decide to put any pressure on. PENALTY TO ENGLAND!
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33 mins: England are matching Germany finally and look dangerous going forward, something they could not claim in the opening 20 minutes.
31 mins: Mead is completely and utterly cleaned out near the halfway by a dreadful challenge from Doorsoun. The Germany defender catches Mead around knee high with the studs. Doorsoun is booked but it really should be a red card. I know it’s a friendly but the referee has got that wrong. On the upside, Mead is up and about.
29 mins: Walsh plays a lovely pass out to Mead on the left wing, allowing the Arsenal player to attack the full-back and lift in a cross, which is turned behind by defender. England are trying to be smart with their corners - this one is played shot and back to Mead who whacks it straight out for a goal kick.
27 mins: The crowd get very excited very time England instigate an attack but also seem deeply worried whenever they have to defend.
Here is Germany’s opener ...
Alexandra Popp opens the scoring, finishing off a well-worked team goal 👏
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) November 9, 2019
Watch England v Germany on @BBCTwo 👍 pic.twitter.com/TuQo0hLh57
25 mins: Germany break on England from a corner, ending with Buhl cutting into the area and hitting a low shot at goal but Earps gets down well and holds on.
C Noyes has been on again: “Possibly a good time to mention that the USA’s second goal in the WC semifinal came from several failed attempts to play out of the back. Lionesses lost possession and did not recover it until Telford stooped down to pick the ball our of her own net. Not sure what Phil’s playing at.”
23 mins: Houghton takes matters into her own hands and whacks a long ball for White to compete for. England then win the second ball but White is tackled, it might have been a foul, and the ball is turned over. Then Parris gets round the back of the defence and pulls a cross back from the byline but it’s turned behind. This is the first bit of intent England and shown and they need to keep it up.
21 mins: Phil Neville is shouting a lot on the touchline. More terrible defending from England, allows Buhl to collect the ball in space 20 yards from goal, turn and fire a shot off which flies well wide.
19 mins: Williamson plays a 30-yard pass across the box to Houghton which she just about gets to first but is then dispossessed on the edge of the box, needlessly putting pressure onto the defence. Some of England’s thinking at the back defies logic.
Germany get a corner which results in some pinball inside the box but England just about manage to get it clear after a few shots at goal.
17 mins: It is far too easy for Germany on the flanks, aided by the fact England’s full-backs are playing ridiculously narrow when defending. Greenwood was inside the box when Hendrich had the ball on the touchline. A cross is chipped into the box for Oberdorf to flick towards goal but Earps is equal to it.
15 mins: England’s passing has been very sloppy. First Houghton and then Walsh misplace simple passes. They really need to start focusing on the task in hand her otherwise it could be a long evening in the rain.
13 mins: Heindrich is once again allowed space to whip in a cross but on this occasion Starke gets underneath the ball and heads it high and wide.
11 mins: Can England recover from that? They have been second to almost everything in the opening 11 minutes or so. Bronze tries to bring some impetus to the game, but overruns the ball and smashes into Kleinherne
GOAL! England 0-1 Germany (Popp, 9)
Poor defending from England allows Hendrich to lift an early cross into the box to Popp, who directs the ball into the corner from eight yards and through Earps’ hands. The goalkeeper really should keep that out - it’s another bad mistake from Earps in an international.
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8 mins: Mead tries to send a through ball for White to latch onto but Doursoon reads it and slides in to intercept before the striker can get to the ball.
6 mins: England are passing it around the back as they look to settle into the game. Sadly, the first pass to go forward is intercepted. It’s a nice theory to pass the ball around defence but there needs to be something better at the end of it.
4 mins: Off the bar! Germany run at the England defence, before the ball is played through to Popp in space, who whacks a shot from inside the box only to see Earps tip it onto the bar and over. Germany look the more confident in the early stages.
2 mins: A couple of early offsides in the opening stages, hopefully the game gets a bit of a more fluid flow to it.
Kick-off
Peep! Peep! Peep! Here we go!
There is a pre-match moment of Remembrance, attended by numerous British military personnel, which will include a minute’s silence.
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C Noyes has been in touch: “Have a hunch Germany are going to give England a beating and the termination of the Reign of Phil will be discussed in earnest. They look like a team that has decided it wants a new manager.”
I suspect the FA will only take action if things get bad in competitive games. He is trying different things, admittedly they’re not working, but there is still time.
The officials seem genuinely excited to be at Wembley in front of a huge crowd. They might not be so pleased after they give a controversial decision.
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The ground does not look 100 per cent full right now but the extra space is being taken up by waving flags.
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Speaking on BBC, Neville points out the team are yet to reach the heights expected of them since the World Cup but says he has full faith in this team.
The pundits have got massive umbrellas as it is bucketing it down at Wembley. I hope Gabby Logan has laminated her notes.
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Some good news for Phil ...
It is very wet in London, once again. Let’s hope it’s not put anyone off attending.
Phil Neville thinks England have plenty more to give in the future. Let’s see if he gets any of that today.
They are getting up to the levels we have talked about in terms of professionalism that I want. Back in the first six months it was ‘I say, you do, I say, you do,’ in terms of driving the culture. Now I’ve got the players and captains in particular that are driving the culture from within.
I have taken a step back in terms of being that person that always drives things because ultimately from a learning point of view, it is better peer to peer telling each other what to do in terms of standards than me always driving that.
From a playing point of view I still think we have got another 10 to 15 per cent to go from what I see as really perfect football and that is what we are working on and that is what I want to see.”
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Additionally, let’s see how Phil Neville can sort out this England team ...
A lovely story of being a committed fan of the England women’s team ...
I played 11-a-side earlier and with the scores at 2-1, I took control of the ball of the left flank, beat two players down the wing, got to the byline and sent an a cross with the outside of my right foot, which was headed home. I am expecting a statue of me to be built on Blackheath in the next week.
Walsh is at the base of the midfield. Her importance to Manchester City was proven when she missed their defeat to Arsenal due to suspension, as City could not control the tempo which she helps to do thanks to her passing capabilities.
It’s certainly a big day at Wembley ...
When I was a little girl I couldn’t even dream about a day like today. What an unbelievable occasion for the women’s game. Well done to all those who made it happen. Good luck @Lionesses it’s your time to shine & keep them coming back 💪🏻👊🏻 pic.twitter.com/91sfo9Owsh
— Casey Stoney MBE (@CaseyStoney) November 9, 2019
Earps gets the nod in net. She had a poor game against Brazil at the Riverside but has been a standout performer in the WSL, so deserves another chance to prove herself to be an England No 1.
Speaking of Demi Stokes ...
My far more esteemed colleague Suzanne Wrack says this is the best team. I think this XI is the most balanced available and it’s great to see White back to lead the line following injury. I personally think it’s a bit of a toss up between Greenwood and Stokes at left-back, so the latter will feel aggrieved to miss out.
LOVE the team. Think Neville has got it bang on. @ me with your thoughts peeps.
— Suzy Wrack (@SuzyWrack) November 9, 2019
Lucy Bronze remembers having to pay for her own kit ...
Starting lineups
England: Earps, Bronze, Houghton, Williamson, Greenwood, Scott, Nobbs, Walsh, Mead, White, Parris
Germany: Frohms, Kleinherne, Hendrich, Oberdorf, Starke, Marozsan, Popp, Dabritz, Buhl, Magull, Doorsoun
Preamble
Good afternoon!
A lot has rightly been made of the record crowd expected at Wembley today but there is plenty of intrigue on the pitch. England have struggled in recent times, winning just once in six matches, including a lot of mediocre performances as Phil Neville looks to find the right formula going forward but his chemistry so far has not found the solution. In a recent friendly against Brazil, England were pretty woeful for large parts, meaning improvement is certainly required on the big stage.
England do not have best record against Germany, having won just once in 25 fixtures, losing 20 of them, so the game will be a barometer of where this current crop of players are at.
In terms of the crowd, it will be a fine sight to see a packed Wembley for such a fixture and hopefully everyone involved will thrive on the extra support. These are the kind of occasions the women’s game need to continue the upward curve they have enjoyed in recent years.
Let’s just hope it’s a cracking spectacle.
