Lukas Podolski says England need to look at Germany and stop changing managers
Former Arsenal star makes his 130th and final appearance for his country with coach Joachim Low approaching his 11th year
LUKAS PODOLSKI says England need to look at Germany and stop changing managers.
The former Arsenal star makes his 130th and final appearance for his country tonight with coach Joachim Low approaching his 11th year in charge.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate will take charge of his team as permanent manager for the first time and the World Cup winners will be tough opponents despite a number of injuries.
Keep up to date with ALL the England news on our team page
Apart from winning in Brazil, Germany reached the semi-finals in 2010, the final of Euro 2008 and semi-finals in 2012 and 2016.
Podolski, 31, currently playing for Galatasaray ahead of a summer move to Japan to play for Vissel Kobe, said: “The only thing I can say is we have had a great coach for over 10 years and the consistency is very important.
“The other difference is that in 2004 German football really changed course and started to develop and it culminated in 2014 with the World Cup.
“England have promising players and they can get far in tournaments — as long as they don’t face Germany.
“It will be an emotional moment for me against England. It has been a long journey. We have experienced a lot together.
“We have had disappointments and highlights. The biggest highlight was the World Cup in 2014.”
Low, 57, said: “England is certainly a team in transition. They now play more modern football with more possession.
“They are very good at counter attacks. They have fast players, young talent and take more risks. They are changing but have a promising future.
“Their coach has promised to play a more modern football, more possession-orientated. I watched a re-run of the game against Spain and that was a really strong performance.”
Mesut Ozil, who missed Arsenal’s game with West Brom on Saturday due to a hamstring problem, will not feature tonight and only took part in light training yesterday.
Keeper Manuel Neuer has also been ruled out with an injury along with Ilkay Gundogan, Marco Reus, Mario Gotze and Julian Draxler.
The biggest news is a call-up for 21-year-old RB Leipzig forward Timo Werner.