the times | Wednesday June 8 2022 2GM 67
Sport
Big week for unexpected threats from
the Home Counties heartlands. The
day after Boris Johnson was stilettoed
by Jeremy Hunt, the MP for South
West Surrey, England’s Nations
League campaign was undermined by
a kid from the same county. Raised in
New Malden, coddled at Chelsea’s
Cobham academy along with Mason
Mount, Reece James and Declan Rice
and cultivated in the England youth
teams, Jamal Musiala elected to play
for Germany, the country of his birth,
and in a sensational performance full
of grace, close control and moments
of high-grade attacking finesse, he
haunted England at the centre of
Hansi Flick’s well-oiled team: the
familiar ghost in the machine.
On the eve of the game, Southgate
had talked glowingly and generously
about Musiala, whom he has known
since he was 13, and with typical
sensitivity about his decision to switch
allegiance, adding wistfully: “We
would have liked him to stay with us.”
Here, Musiala offered a glint of the
one thing missing from Southgate’s
England on the approach to this
winter’s World Cup: a point of real
excitement and tangible evolution.
Musiala was at the centre of a fine
Germany move in the second minute.
It came from an instance of England
high pressure, Manuel Neuer pursued
on the edge of his box by
Raheem Sterling and
Mount, whom he
bisected with the
practised ease of a
seasoned woodsman
splitting a log. From
there, Lukas
Klostermann
turned inside and
fed Musiala, who
received the ball in
the centre circle and
swept a pass out to the
left back David Raum,
ushering Germany into those
open spaces. Raum found Kai
Havertz, who worked Jordan Pickford
at his near post.
There were early signs of Flick’s
signature high pressing, including a
couple of times where every German
outfielder was camped in the final
third. Musiala is a fine presser in
these high areas, but it’s in the deeper
transitions where he comes alive.
Before a moment of balletic technique
from Musiala, who received another
vertical pass out of defence while
facing his own goal, and somehow
nudged the ball behind him with hisNICK POTTS/PAEngland’s defensive cracks
Exciting Musiala –
one who got away
from Southgate
inside foot and turned in one liquid
motion, one of those moments of
technical virtuosity which instantly
flicks the dial from build-up to attack,
before striding away.
Musiala is one of those players who
just seems to have a different way of
moving. He doesn’t tear around with
an anxious eagerness to impress, like
you might expect a 19-year-old to do.
Instead, he has a distinctive carriage,
holding his forearms at a soft
perpendicular, giving the impression
of a dainty but lethal velociraptor. He
also has, in common with some of the
English midfielders of his generation,
like Jude Bellingham and Conor
Gallagher, the ability to make those
late runs into the box, and when
Jonas Hofmann sent a low cross to
the near post, Musiala was arriving,
and nearly slid the ball past Pickford.
Musiala was menacing in the left
half-space and twice in the first half
he had a shot blocked on the edge of
the box, the latter effort following
some delightfully slippery footwork.
There was another gasp-inducing
moment when he seemed to be boxed
in that channel, two defenders behind
him, and falling backwards, but used
his low centre of gravity and a shift of
his hips to escape, and wriggled his
way into the area. When a Harry
Kane clearance fell to him on the
edge of the box, again he had that
quality of patience, the ability to wait
for the moment rather than snatch it,
and his crisp volley was on target if a
little too central.
Musiala almost provided another
moment of incision but his attempted
through ball to Kai Havertz, perfectly
timed, was blocked by the England’s
defence. Bellingham, his former
compadre in the England
under-15 and under-17
teams, had been
introduced in the first
half for Kalvin
Phillips, and was
growing in stature
and produced a fine
sliding tackle to
prevent a Raum
through ball from
reaching Havertz.
Flick’s Germany
team is a combination of
shouty, experienced types
— Neuer, Antonio Rüdiger,
Joshua Kimmich and Thomas Müller
are all prone to vocally revving up
team-mates — and a newer generation
which is wordlessly industrious.
Musiala and Havertz in particular are
so quiet and undemonstrative as to be
almost ethereal. If the whole is the
sum of the parts, then Die Mannschaft
is like a German supercar, capable of a
throaty roar of acceleration but
whisper-quiet in its highest gears.
Musiala gave way to Timo Werner
with 25 minutes remaining, and his
absence coincided with the recession
of Germany’s attacking threat. At 19,
he is already an outstanding player;
for England, he looks like the one
who got away.Midfielder who chose
Germany oozes class
with finesse, guile and
attacking flair, writes
James Gheerbrant
Kane is brought
down in the box by
Schlotterbeck
before converting
from the spot, insetx bye
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— Neuer, An
Joshua Kimmich anMusiala, left, now of Germany, and
Bellingham in England kit as boysPeter Walton’s expert verdict
Harry Kane appeared to be in an
offside position when he was fouled
by Nico Schlotterbeck but Lukas
Klostermann’s intervention played
Kane onside. Kane was offside when
the pass by Jack Grealish was
played, but the touch from
Klostermann was a deliberate play
which negates the potential offside.
Kane was impeded and the referee
was correct to give a foul after
being told by the VAR to consult the
monitor. It’s correct to say this was a
deliberate play from the defender
and therefore there was no offside.Jack Charlton once said to me that I
was much better as a substitute than a
starter for his Ireland team, and
I hated it.
Now, I suspect Gareth
Southgate may have similar
feelings about Jack Grealish,
right, for England. The
Manchester City
winger again made a
huge impact off the
bench last night,
helping to turn a match in
which his team were going
nowhere.
Germany had dominated
the game but the lively
Grealish put the hosts on the
back foot with several strong runs on
the left wing.
It’s a nice position for Southgate to
be in — to know he has such a talent
on the bench — but I’m sure it’s a
reputation that Grealish won’t like.
In a minute, Jack
continued from back
awarded the penalty, which Kane con-
verted — the 15th spot kick he has
scored for England.
“The finish is exceptional,
[under] the pressure of that
moment,” Southgate said.
“We have huge faith in him.
I know the 50th goal will be
the centre part of the story
but his all-round game, the
way he linked the line, the
way he pressed from the front,
was exceptional. His quality to
drop deep — you need a player
who can come and link the
game, and he gives us so many
options.”
Jack Grealish made a big impact
after replacing Mason Mount with
18 minutes left and Southgate said
that he believed that the £100 millionGrealish ‘must learn to defend’
Manchester City winger could be either
a starter or a substitute for England —
but added a caveat about playing him
from the start.
“If we didn’t trust him we wouldn’t
put him on the pitch with 20 minutes to
go in the belief that he can make a
difference,” Southgate said.
“The start of the game, the challenge
to the wide players is to attack, defend,
try to score goals at a high tactical level
and you’ve got to be spot on.
“I think that’s an area Jack can get
better at. What he did do was carry the
ball and at that moment of the game as
it opens up there’s a little more space, a
little more opportunity, and also that
freshness.
“The impact that he and Jarrod
Bowen had was important in those at-
tacking areas. There is a good challenge
there, good competition for places and
we have got to keep pushing them.”