Manchester City: International duty matchday one
First of all, let me say, the minute’s silence impeccably observed. No booing of the German anthem either, as we heard back in the friendly in March. Both sides, as you can see from the picture above, wore poppy’s on their shirts.
John Stones played as part of a back three. He is steadily becoming a great defender for Manchester City and, probably, one of the best England currently have. He made a couple of mistakes but, for the most part, he did well. The downside was that he did play the full 90-minutes on Friday, which may not have pleased Pep. That said, maybe he’ll get to relax a little on the bench against Brazil.
Kyle Walker did get to relax a little against Germany. Coming on to replace Kieran Trippier, he got around 20 minutes. When he came on he did what you’d expect to see Walker do. That is probably the reason Gareth Southgate tried another option.
On the German side, Ilkay Gundogan did get almost the whole game. He didn’t have the greatest of games but for him, match sharpness is more important. I was worried for his back at certain points though, no one should have to carry Ozil for that long.
Leroy Sane was clearly the German danger man, as he can be for City. Rattled the bar but also played, pretty much, all the game. I am not sure that would be that pleased Pep, but maybe he, like Stones, will sit out the next game.