14 March 2024 , 17:33
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According to the official announcement from the Football Association, the 25-man England squad contains only five midfielders - Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Maddison and Declan Rice.
Amongst the nine players listed in the forwards section, many of them do jobs in midfield so we should not take the categorisation too seriously. But surely there was midfield room for one of the most exciting prospects to emerge in that department this season?
He has tried to explain but it remains hard to fathom why Southgate has decided not to take the chance to have a good close-up look at Kobbie Mainoo. Yes, he is relatively young and inexperienced but his club team-mate Marcus Rashford made his England debut at the age of 18 and Mainoo turns 19 next month.
And in his 22 appearances for United - and there would have been more had he not suffered an injury in pre-season - one of the many qualities that have stood out is his maturity. It is clear Mainoo has a great temperament.
While on the subject of midfielders, a resurgent Ross Barkley can also count himself unlucky not to be in this squad and the same can be said of Harvey Elliott, who was, arguably, the best player on the park in that titanic tussle between Liverpool and Manchester United on Sunday. But under Southgate’s and the FA’s demarcation lines, they might be considered attackers.
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What Mainoo would have given to Southgate is an alternative to Henderson and, boy, the England manager needs one. To the vast majority of England fans, what midfield three looks better?
Rice, Henderson and Bellingham? Or Rice, Mainoo and Bellingham? Playing behind a front three of Bukayo Saka, Harry Kane and Phil Foden, the latter looks tasty. In his three tournament campaigns, Southgate’s approach has been underpinned by an insistence on giving his defence as much protection as possible.
Rice and Kalvin Phillips, Rice and Henderson. That approach has taken England to a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final and a Euros final.
Kobbie Mainoo has already established himself as one of England's brightest midfield prospectsBut the players always repeat the mantra of taking the next step, taking the final step, winning trophies, and that is why Southgate should be duty-bound to keep searching for difference-makers. Mainoo, even at his young age, could be a difference-maker.
He can offer the protection provided by Henderson but carry a more sophisticated attacking contribution. That may sound overly optimistic, that may sound over-the-top when Mainoo has played such a limited amount of top-flight games.
That might well prove to be the case but would there have been any harm in Southgate having a closer inspection of Mainoo’s undoubted talents? The England manager’s retort to that sort of question is normally to ask who would you leave out to make room for someone such as Mainoo.
Well, he has EIGHT defenders in this squad, so maybe one of those. Mainoo has big tests coming up in a Manchester United shirt and he clearly has a lot of developing to do.
But you cannot help but feel that if he wants to dispel this idea he is a conservative coach, Southgate has missed a trick with Mainoo.
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