Gareth Southgate’s second-half substitutions improved England’s poor performance in their draw against Slovenia, with Kobbie Mainoo now certain to start in Sunday’s last-16 clash, according to Gary Neville.
Despite winning Group C, England were largely frustrated by a disciplined Slovenia in Cologne in their final group game on Tuesday evening and now face the prospect of facing the Netherlands in their opening match at direct elimination Sunday afternoon.
After struggling to create clear openings in the first half at the RheinEnergieStadion, as well as having a Bukayo Saka strike ruled out for offside, Southgate made a half-time change and brought on Mainoo in place of a disappointing Conor Gallagher.
The Manchester United midfielder made an impact in the second half, improving England’s stutter and Neville believes he will now definitely start in Sunday’s last-16 tie in Gelsenkirchen.
Cole Palmer goes on the attack against Slovenia
“Every time England made a change, they got better,” said the former England defender. ITV Sport.
“I’m sure Mainoo will start the next game. Southgate thought Gallagher was the option for energy, but it was obvious we needed someone to play us and Adam Wharton is capable of doing that as well. “
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Rob Dorsett delivers his verdict on England’s goalless draw with Slovenia, saying Southgate’s side showed signs of “desperation” in their final Group C match.
As well as Mainoo, Southgate also introduced Cole Palmer in place of Saka with 20 minutes to go, with the Chelsea striker also attracting attention by improving England’s attacking play.
“The more substitutions we made, the less rigid we looked. We looked so basic in the first half, it was difficult to watch that and I think we moved forward in the second half,” added Neville .
The more substitutions we made, the less rigid we looked – we looked so basic in the first half it was hard to watch.
“We didn’t get a result, but we got a glimpse of what we could be.”
Meanwhile, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold and Newcastle United’s Anthony Gordon also arrived late and Neville urged the England manager not to waste the talent he has in the team.
“You mention Alexander-Arnold, Palmer, (Jude) Bellingham, Saka, Mainoo, (Phil) Foden – these are huge talents and we really can’t mismanage these talents, we will really regret it, and so will Gareth,” he said. Neville said. .
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Gareth Southgate has said fans are entitled to their opinions but hearing boos at the end of a game creates an “unusual environment” for the team.
“All I can say going into Sunday is that these guys are here and they’re staring us in the face now, they came on in the second half and made us a lot better. They’re our best technical players and the ones who look the most comfortable on the ball and make us look like a team.”
“We looked so basic in the first half and that’s nice. It’s the stiff England we saw in every tournament 20 years ago and that second half looked like they were playing with a little fluidity.
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Anthony Gordon has urged England fans to stick with Gareth Southgate’s side after some disappointing draws in Euro 2024 Group C.
“We are the only country in the world where we regularly ask: ‘Where can we put this player in our team?’ Where will Bellingham fit in? How can we get him in? How are we going to bring in Foden or Palmer? In?
“Every other country seems to welcome them, but we’re having trouble doing that and we have to get them in.”
Roy Keane agreed with Neville on the impact of Mainoo and Palmer during second-half substitutions against Slovenia.
“Mainoo looked very comfortable on the ball but the one I always look forward to seeing is Palmer and I know we all wondered why he didn’t come on in the first or second game ” said the former Republic of Ireland captain.
Palmer replaced Bukayo Saka in the second half
“But when he came on, every time he got the ball you thought something was going to happen, so there was definitely more fluidity in the game in the last 15-20 minutes, but still not of final product and they didn’t really test the goaltender.
“But there were one or two positives, the clean sheet, but they need to show a bit more quality in the attacking areas.”
