GARETH Southgate has been spending some of the build-up to Tuesday night’s seismic clash with Germany apologetically making most of us feel ancient.

“The history is an irrelevance to them,” he said at the weekend, referring to his young squad of players and a rivalry that to many is tinged with genuine heartache. “We’ve got boys born into the 2000s, which is obviously scary, but it’s the reality of the group we’re dealing with.”

The England coach makes a pertinent point. When Frank Lampard’s shot thundered down off Manuel Neuer’s crossbar in 2010, six-year-old Jude Bellingham was presumably too preoccupied with the prospect of getting more squash to overly denounce the injustice of the ‘ghost goal’.

Luke Shaw meanwhile was born a fortnight after his gaffer stood broken in the centre-circle of Wembley in ‘96, wrongly absorbing all the blame for football not coming home.

For the last time England faced their historic foe in a meaningful fixture we have to go back to that World Cup 11 years ago, with four friendlies since, and though these players have grown up acutely aware that Germany is the big one, they rely on word-of-mouth and YouTube to understand why.

For us of course it’s very different. For us, childhood memories remain raw to this day, memories of hope and glory turning to penalty trauma and all of this means that at Wembley Stadium this week eleven players will see Germany for what they are now: a dangerous but flawed collective, with a manager potentially in charge for the final time. A nation, however, will nervously watch on and see Germany for what they were: swaggering, ultra-efficient and exasperatingly good at spot-kicks.

“For us as players we don’t tend to think too much about the history. It is about the here and now. What Germany are good at and the areas we can exploit. What we can do to hurt them.”

That’s what Jordan Henderson said on Friday. At 31, the Liverpool midfielder is the most senior member of England’s squad and the only one who was alive when Gazza wept in Turin. He was 16 days old.

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Where Germany can be exploited is in defence and if that seems entirely incongruous to a long-accepted trope that the Germans are a well-oiled machine who get the job done then consider this: on four occasions in the past year, they have drawn from winning positions, conceding each time late on. These are not the perfectly put-together Germany of old. They’re ragged at present; a touch insecure. Just like the rest of us.

England are 37/20 to win the second half and with more attacking adventure on the bench this is a decent price.

In their last 15 games Joachim Low’s side have conceded 24 times, which equates to a goal every 56 minutes. They’ve kept only three clean sheets and shipped in three against Turkey and Switzerland, two against North Macedonia and six v Spain. Even their best performance of late saw them dissolve into a shoot ‘em up at Portugal’s expense.

All of which makes it incredibly frustrating that England are not in the best position to fully capitalize. Harry Kane, the scorer of a quarter of his team’s goals since late-2018 has notched just twice in his last 12 appearances. In the 12 before that, he bagged an imperious 13. At the Euros to date the Tottenham hit-man has had just 22 touches of the ball in the final third and this attacking timidity is shared across the front three. Granted, Southgate’s conservative approach lies at the heart of such caution but still, a pathetic five shots on target in three games – the third lowest ratio in the tournament – cannot wholly be blamed on Kalvin Phillips partnering Declan Rice in midfield.

If this suggests that a defining narrative at Wembley will be a vulnerable back-line having a race to the bottom with a shot-shy attack then what really intrigues is acknowledging that the reverse is true at the other end of the pitch.

Serge Gnabry may not have a goal or assist to his name yet in the competition but the Bayern star has constantly been a thorn in defender’s sides while Kai Havertz is firmly in the running to win the Best Young Player of the Tournament merit.

The talented 22-year-old has two goals and two assists in his last four international outings. He is 33/10 to score anytime here.

On the flanks Germany also pose a real attacking threat as evidenced by their willful destruction of Portugal’s back four in the group stage. Low’s men have attempted more crosses than any other side after three games, with their total of 82 exactly double that of England’s and an unsurprising consequence of this is that only Germany, Hungary and Czech Republic have scored more than one header. Worryingly, overall they have had 72 more attacks than the Three Lions to this juncture.

Under 11.5 total shots by England – including extra- time – is 4/5. Regrettably, this is a good shout.

Fear not though, because if England have largely been ineffective up front they have more than compensated at the back. It is now eight hours since they last conceded while 15 clean sheets in 20 is impressive enough to turn even Italian heads. A concern persists that they have not been properly tested – and the defensive stats from Euro 2020 certainly show that Stones and co have had it fairly easy so far in comparison to others – but the adage holds that you can only be brilliant against what’s in front of you.

Ultimately, it comes down to individual instinct as to how these details will play out. Might Germany’s susceptible rearguard and menacing forward-play result in another six-goal classic as witnessed in Munich against Portugal? Or will the strengths and weaknesses of each side equal themselves out in a game of attrition?

A draw and both teams to score after 90 minutes is 17/5. How’s your nerves?

If it’s the latter then perhaps it’s in midfield where the contest will be won or lost and here there is genuine encouragement for the home side. Prior to the tournament many were proclaiming Germany’s engine-room to be the best in Europe but two weeks’ in and Ilkay Gundogan and Toni Kroos have largely flattered to deceive. They have been neat and accurate for sure. It’s out wide though where the productivity has mainly come from.

Should any two of Rice, Phillips and Henderson prove crucial in England winning their first ever Euro knock-out game inside 90 minutes then wouldn’t that be ironic given the hysteria that has accompanied the double-pivot in recent weeks? Victory over Germany meanwhile will go some way to finally laying ghost goals and ghosts to rest.

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