England lost last night, you know? I know, you wouldn’t know it. I’m as surprised as you.

The new boss wasn’t the only one impressed, either. Pundits lined up to lavish praise on the Three Lions’ display.

Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Show all 22 1 /22 Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 6 out of 10 Rash when coming out to challenge Vardy early on, but stood firm to block Alli’s decent chance towards the end of the first half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Joshua Kimmich – 7 out of 10 One of the few young German players to have a decent evening and potentially sent a message to Carlo Ancelotti, who has not offered him much playing time this season. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Mats Hummels – 7 out of 10 Germany’s best all-round performer, rarely looked troubled by England’s attacking talents. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Antonio Rudiger – 6 out of 10 A solid display, if unspectacular. Did well on the rare occasions when England went aerial. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jonas Hector – 7 out of 10 Impressed after taking his time to grow into the game. His link-up play with Sane in the second-half was at the root of all England’s problems. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Julian Weigl – 5 out of 10 The main culprit in Germany’s surprising struggle to who Hauled off for Liverpool’s Emre Can midway through the second half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Toni Kroos – 5 out of 10 Surprisingly poor when it came to the simple stuff, misplaced several passes when not under pressure. Struggled to win his battle against the lesser light of Livermore. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Leroy Sane – 6 out of 10 Did not crackle like we know he can from his recent Manchester City form, but another who improved as the evening went on. Perhaps should’ve doubled Germany’s lead. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Julian Brandt – 4 out of 10 Another player reportedly attracting Premier League interest, he did not show why here. Switched for Andre Schurrle. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Lukas Podolski – 6 out of 10 The equivalent of a testimonial for the veteran and you could tell from his first-half performance. Then came Der Hammer, as Germany’s support calls his left peg. A stunning winner. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Timo Werner – 4 out of 10 The RB Leipzig frontman, a reported target for Liverpool, failed to translate his exciting form at club level to the international stage. Disappointing, but it was only his debut. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Joe Hart – 7 out of 10 Could do little for Podolski’s goal, but did well shortly after to deny Sane with an excellent stop down low to his left. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Gary Cahill – 4 out of 10 Lucky not to concede a penalty for needlessly leaning into a cross in the first-half and could have done better to stop Podolski’s screamer. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Michael Keane – 6 out of 10 Asked to play in a back three on his debut after excelling in a rigid four at Turf Moor all season, but coped admirably. One lapse in concentration was almost punished by Sane. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Chris Smalling – 5 out of 10 An indifferent night from the centre-half. Unlike Cahill, he was rarely called into question, but still did not convince. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Kyle Walker – 6 out of 10 Showed why he will be integral to Southgate’s England in his forays down the right flank, but only did so in glimpses. Hector and Sane began to cause him problems has the game went on. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Eric Dier – 6 out of 10 A lucky boy not to be severely punished for a late, robust tackle on Weigl. That aside, he helped to stifle Germany’s midfield. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jake Livermore – 7 out of 10 Not everyone’s idea of a no 7, but combined well with Dier in the centre of the park to disrupt Germany’s passing, particularly in the first half. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Ryan Bertrand – 6 out of 10 Not as threatening as Walker was in moments, but defensively solid and frustrated Brandt in the first-half. Schurrle gave him a few more problems after the break. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Dele Alli – 7 out of 10 England’s main creative outlet, but also found himself on the end of several chances. Should have opened the scoring with the first-half’s best chance but hit it straight at Ter Stegen. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Adam Lallana – 7 out of 10 Came close to scoring in his fourth straight England appearance, but thwacked the post after an impressive burst forward. Germany 1 England 0 player ratings Jamie Vardy – 5 out of 10 Aggrieved to have not won a penalty early on, but you could tell he was looking for it. Too deep at times too, despite Germany’s defensive line offering him space in behind.

There was possession. There was creativity. There was THREE AT THE BACK, as though using one more central defender is tantamount to reinventing the wheel. Next they’ll be playing the ball out from the back and deploying someone “in the hole”.

(As well as possession and creativity and three at the back there were of course no goals either but we’ll gloss over that.)

This has been coming, however. Even before last night the green shoots of revival line was being peddled far and wide by those whose memories clearly don’t stretch back even as far as last summer.

Maybe it’s that we’re a nation of hopeless optimists. Maybe we’re all naïve. Maybe it’s just that we all still feel sorry for poor Gareth after that penalty miss all those years ago.

“This feels like a new dawn,” Lee Dixon pondered pre-match without even a hint of self-awareness.

There has been the unmistakable whiff of fresh optimism ever since Southgate took permanent ownership of the impossible job after Sam Allardyce’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flirtation with it last year.

Except this isn’t fresh, is it? It’s the same story every time around the managerial merry-go-round.

Southgate's side showed promise but ultimately went down to defeat (Getty)

“[Insert manager name]really is going to change it, you know. You see he’s different to [insert previous manager name] and won’t be as stupid as to make those mistakes again. The FA’s new [insert generic buzzword acronym] programme will revolutionise the game in this country and end the [insert amount of years since 1966] years of hurt. Football’s coming home.”

What’s that phrase about madness and doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? Yeah, that.

Now I like Southgate. He seems a thoroughly decent chap who has worked his way up and earned his stripes. He is saying all the right things, too, and really does seem to believe he can be the man to save English football or, at the very least, improve it just a little.

England's bold new away kit in pictures Show all 6 1 /6 England's bold new away kit in pictures England's bold new away kit in pictures England's bold new away kit in pictures Nike England's bold new away kit in pictures England's bold new away kit in pictures England's bold new away kit in pictures England's bold new away kit in pictures

Except he can’t, can he? No one person can. We’ve been doing this too long and fallen too far for that.

“We should build around Dele Alli,” claimed Ian Wright. That’ll be the same Dele Alli who played all four games at Euro 2016 as England crashed out of a tournament designed from its very infancy to keep them in.

Now I’m not suggesting that Alli or any of the other sprinkling of young hopefuls aren’t fine players, nor that we shouldn’t try and bring out the best in them, but to believe things will magically change just because there’s a new manager with the same ideas wrapped in a different bow is foolhardy at best. At worst, downright stupid.

English football is inherently flawed. We know it, Southgate knows it, the FA know it. A 1-0 defeat to the world champions’ second string doesn’t change that. The awakening of Jake Livermore and Michael Keane as international mainstays doesn’t change that. Southgate and his altogether decentness doesn’t change that.

“We should follow the German model,” are the oft-heard words of wisdom. That’ll be after “Spain are the real example” or “France have shown us the way forward”, each philosophy and counter-philosophy more far-fetched than the last. Anyone got the number for the Moldovan FA? Maybe they know what to do.

There is no quick fix, that’s the hard truth. The Premier League rules all. Money rules them. International football in this country is secondary and the power and influence all lies at the other end of the scale.

For all the positivity England still lost to Germany's second-string (Getty)

Roy Hodgson didn’t have the answer just as Fabio Capello didn’t before him. McClaren. Eriksson. Taylor. Keegan. The list goes on.

Why do we think Southgate will be different now when the problems that his fallen predecessors faced still remain? The sooner those involved get their heads out of the sand the better for English football and everyone in it. This isn’t a new dawn, it’s Groundhog Day.