Gareth Southgate far from surprised as Ruben Loftus-Cheek shines against world champions Germany

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Jack Rosser @JackRosser_10 November 2017

Gareth Southgate admitted that he was not surprised by the starring role England debutant Ruben Loftus-Cheek played in the draw with Germany at Wembley Stadium.

Despite the friendly being a goalless affair, Southgate’s youthful side put on an entertaining show and, could have easily come away with a memorable win against the reigning world champions.

Alongside Loftus-Cheek, who after a slow start dazzled the Wembley crowd with drive and flair not seen in an England squad for a long spell, Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Liverpool’s Joe Gomez also impressed on their debuts.

On-loan Swansea striker also started and though nervy got himself into encouraging positions throughout, while Jack Cork also made a late appearance.

After Loftus-Cheek was named Man of the Match against Joachim Low’s side, Southgate admitted that he was far from surprised.

“Individually I think [there were] some top debuts and some really encouraging performances,” he said.

“He’s a player I’ve watched do that from Under 16 level, and despite his size and his appearance and the way he plays he’s not hugely confident at times, and I think tonight it took him ten minutes to have a look around and think ‘I can do this’.

“He’s got so many good attributes, top attributes and that is why we put him into the team.

“I don’t think the wider public maybe would be as aware of him, you would have had to follow him very closely but we believe in him and we believed in the others we played.

“I’m not surprised, I’m really not surprised with what they’ve done because they’ve shown that previously in the younger ages, they’ve shown that this week in training – there’s been an energy about the group.

“It seemed as if ‘okay, there’s loads of pull-outs and it’s a bit messy,’ but actually it’s been really tight and I think the performance, without getting too carried away, was a really encouraging one.”

Loftus-Cheek will be hoping that a shining debut earns him the chance to star once again when the Three Lions host a star-studded Brazil at the national stadium on Tuesday.

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