Three things we learned from the international break

 

The 3Lions led a lap of honor after their embarrassing home stalemate against Hungary on Tuesday at Wembley Stadium. (Photo credit: @FA)

We love club football so much that we sometimes hope FIFA, UEFA, CAF and other ruling bodies forget the international break, but apart from injuries and fatigue, what else did we learn from the soon to be concluded international break?

Gareth Southgate cannot attack

England manager Gareth Southgate set up to attack for once in their latest World Cup qualifier instalments and it didn’t go according to plan against Hungary as England dropped a qualifying point at home for the first time in eight years.

Hungary came to town with the tiniest of hopes to qualify for the mundial slated for Qatar in the winter of 2022 and no one expected any magic from Marco Rossi’s side; it was then not a surprise to see Southgate drop his usual double pivot for a single deep lying playmaker in Declan Rice.

From the chop and shove that followed the second half you can tell Southgate was clueless, shifting tactics and then relying on players’ individual abilities to seek a last gasp win which the hungry Hungarians didn’t allow, you may have to ask why England won’t fire the man at the gate…

 

Germany isn’t all that

Germany may have qualified for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar before anyone else but from their struggles in their qualifying games you can tell that the future isn’t as bright as their early qualification suggests…

Germany beat North Macedonia 4-0 to book their place at the next World Cup but if that makes you tip them for the title then you might want to look into their group and see they faced Armenia, Liechtensteiner and an out of sorts Iceland.

Hansi Flick has the pedigree to command respect but Germany struggled to victory in most of the games, having to come from behind to grab last minute wins in some games and it will take more than name to see them rewrite the wrongs at the Russia finals in 2018.

 

Should we be worried about Spain?

Spain may have lost the final of the UEFA Nations League to France but they impressed with the youths coming through the ranks for La Roja.

Luis Henrique led the team to the final, parading teenagers and just a blend of few veterans in Sergio Bousquet and Cesar Azpilicueta but youngsters like Gavi and Yeremy Pinto grabbed the headlines with heroic displays.

2022 might come too soon for these lads to win the World Cup, especially with Portugal and France still pushing hard with the talents in their ranks, but Spain will not disappoint and will push the biggest of names to the farthest of limits.