West Bromwich Albion star Jake Livermore made his first start for England five years after his previous cap.
Germany’s Toni Kroos in action with England’s Jake Livermore
Martin Keown has praised the performance that West Brom’s Jake Livermore put in during England’s narrow friendly defeat to Germany on Wednesday night, the Daily Mail reports.
The Three Lions were beaten 1-0 by the Germans on a night where Gareth Southgate did plenty of experimenting when it came to his tactics and selection decisions.
One gamble he took was to hand Livermore – perhaps a surprise call-up in the first place, despite impressing for the Baggies – a start in the England midfield as part of the 3-4-2-1 system he deployed.
And while England would end up being beaten thanks to a brilliant strike from Lukas Podolski, Keown has suggested that Livermore did a good job in midfield, and showed the manager that he can follow the game-plan.
“On his first England start, Jake Livermore really benefited from how well the team functioned,” he told the Mail.
“The move which led to Jamie Vardy’s penalty claim in the first half stemmed from a forward pass by the West Brom midfielder.
“When you play with this system, you have to pass through the compartments and Livermore clearly understood his role,” he went on to add.
Getting the first start for his country under his belt, five years after his previous cap, will undoubtedly give Livermore a tremendous boost ahead of the final weeks of the Premier League season.
Now he has had a taste of international football again, he will surely want to do everything he can to ensure that he makes as many future squads as possible, and that should benefit West Brom as they should have a highly-motivated player running the show in midfield most weeks.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
