It was obviously the first time in the history of the world that a footballer was booed by the opposing team's fans.
Going back to Mainoo though, it's very much the age of the player overtaking the performance. 31 touches in 97 minutes 84% pass completion 0 key passes 0 tackles 0 interceptions 1 dribble It was his usual anonymous performance punctuated by a goal. Fair play to him but he really shouldn't start for England.
I think it will be either him or Trent starting. I am not sure it will be Gallagher or Wharton or Jones.
I'm not sure. Maybe it's United's shit tactical setup but he really has to do a lot more in general play. Gallagher is a very busy player with some quality whilst Wharton is a really good reader of the game with a cultured left foot. Jones shouldn't make the squad. I'd have Mainoo third after Gallagher and Wharton.
The very concerning thing from an England perspective is how out of sorts Stones was. It was always the risk of him playing so little this season but its compounded by the rest of the defensive issues. Maguire still out and has been injury hit tall season , Trippier last completed a match in February... Really difficult to see us going especially far with the defence as out of sorts as it is in fitness as well as form. I'd hope and expect us to be ruthless with the selections because we can't be using the Euro's to get people who aren't fit up to match fitness. It'll cost us.
Walker has always been prone to positional errors and has never had the best spatial awareness but he's been caught out more times this season than I can remember. His pace has often allowed him to recover in the past but now it's slowly starting to wane these errors are popping up more.
And I suspect if it’s defensive issues that cost us the FA might well panic and choose a defensive minder successor to Southgate.
Congratulations to our #ThreeLions at @ManUtd on their @EmiratesFACup victory at @wembleystadium today! 👏Commiserations to those at @ManCity. https://t.co/bkBMFsLbRK— England (@England) May 25, 2024
🗣️ - Erik ten Hag: "I had such joy watching Kobbie Mainoo today, but we have to be calm. You guys in England are very good in pushing players, and managers.. and then you hammer them when they have 2 bad performances." [bbc] pic.twitter.com/Kijk2eQFwh— 𝐀𝐅𝐂 𝐀𝐉𝐀𝐗 💎 (@TheEuropeanLad) May 25, 2024
Would you still have Gallagher after watching that Brazil game? That was pretty much a full strength lineup and it just looked poor to me. I think having Walker and Trippier/Gomez as our full-back pairing with Rice and Gallagher at the base of the midfield has the potential to look turgid in possession. That's four positions that hold a lot of responsibilty in the buildup that would be occupied by players who all have (to varying degrees) limitations in possession. If we include Pickford and Maguire it's 6 actually.
Im not sure about those stats to be honest, I mean he tackled Haaland ( I think ) in the penalty area where I thought it was a penalty but not given, does that not count as a tackle plus not sure if it’s classed as key but saw him make a few good through balls.
So what's your point then? Where, why, in what way is it relevant that you heard booing from the stands? Apart from your crusade against Mount, of course.
What do you expect Mainoo to do though? I think that at least in central midfield positions Gallagher is, at least, a much more known quantity.
All true but they will be ground swell of pressure for Mainoo to start - and if he doesn’t he might become like Foden in 2022 and Grealish in 2021 in terms of the player the majority want on the pitch.
Mainoo was infinitely better against Belgium than Gallagher was against Brazil. He's calmer on the ball and more reliable in possession. I rate Gallagher fairly highly overall and he certainly has his value for a lot of sides but I don't really like him in our team. There's too many times I've seen him pass the ball out for a throw in when under pressure against better teams. Chelsea are a high pressing team that are loaded with runners up top, we're a possession based team that often builds up slowly and methodically. It makes no sense to me to be a possession based team and have Gallagher partly responsible for running the midfield. I'm not desperate for Mainoo to start, I'd be absolutely fine with it being Wharton. I just don't want Gallagher anywhere near it really.
Yeah, you get the feeling Southgate will have to make some big calls in defence if he wants to compete at these Euros. I can't see him playing the suicidal high line that City adopted today - not after the failed experiment against Brazil - so I'm not too concerned about Walker and Stones. But this over-reliance on a half fit Maguire and an undercooked and out of form Trippier. That's a big worry.
We're making a lot of assumptions though to be honest. If you look at previous campaigns, the system at the tournament always changes from the system pre-tournament.
Step outside the hype and ask yourself what Mainoo is really going to bring to this England midfield?