It is always revealing when a manager namechecks an opposition player before a game and it was no different when Gareth Southgate did so on Sunday. Asked to assess Germany, whom England face in the Nations League at Wembley on Monday night – in a tie that has become fraught for so many reasons – he zeroed in on one man, betraying admiration and envy in equal measure.
“Joshua Kimmich is fundamental to the team and the way they play,” Southgate said of the midfield controller. “He organises the game for them and he reads it so well.”
