Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville, who was part of the England coaching setup at the World Cup 2014, says that the national team cannot copy the blueprint of Germany. The arch rivals of England, Germany, won the World Cup 2014. They have also created history by becoming the first European team to win on Latin American soil. The victory also complete a remarkable turnaround for the national team, which has left facing with a lot of questions after the Euro 2000. Since then, they invested a lot to develop the youngsters in the country and it has started paying off.
Germany not only had one of the best teams in the World Cup, but they also had a very difficult path to the final. Despite this, Neville says that Germany’s success cannot be replicated in England. Ironically, Germany have made it no secret of the fact that they have tried to take the best aspects from the Spanish national team. As a result, Germany play the same possession based football that results in a lot of control and also protects the defenders. After arguing that England should not copy Germany, Neville claimed that he is confident that the recent failures have set the wheels in motion for a bright future.
“People who write ‘England should follow the German route’ are either oblivious to the obstacle or believe in magic wands. Of course it would be great to follow that route but you may as well at present say ‘England needs weather like Spain’. We are going to have to find our way of doing it because the system we have doesn’t allow us to adopt the German route in its entirety. I’m confident the mountain is starting to move. It is a slow shift and results will take time but I see things happening behind the scenes,” said Neville.