England disarray allows Germany to dominate

Perhaps the only positive for England is there can be no avoiding the reality now. For the Lionesses, there was no repeat of their glorious victory over Germany at Wembley. Instead, a rematch of the Euro 2022 final served up a warning ahead of England's European Championship defence next summer. The Lionesses were complacent and error-strewn as a refreshed, reshaped Germany team repeatedly tore through them. Had it not been for Germany's own calamitous defending, the scoreline could have been even more of an embarrassment.

- JAMIE BRAIDWOOD

England conceding four at home should be enough as it is. That this was a friendly does not hide the fact it was a bad night for Sarina Wiegman, her worst as England manager, but there is an argument that a wake-up call like this was needed ahead of Euro 2025. If the manager has been accused of being too loyal to too many of her players who won the Euros and reached the World Cup final, there is an even greater case to finally change her first-choice team. Wiegman insisted she would not "make changes for the sake of it" - but there are too many starting for England who are living off their reputations, at least on current form.

It should not be said that this team lacks character. From three goals down inside half an hour, England rallied and pulled two back through a double from Georgia Stanway. The period where Germany raced into their lead was alarming enough, however, raising questions over England's defensive structure and Wiegman's selection, which was under the microscope anyway. Leah Williamson and Beth Mead, in particular, are out of form at a struggling Arsenal and it showed. It was the captain's early mistake, resulting in Germany's first penalty, that set the tone for an England performance littered with errors from start to end.