Gary Neville had no doubts England will start with Kobbie Mainoo in midfield in their Euro 2024 round of 16 game after the Manchester United youngster impressed from the bench against Slovenia.
England manager Gareth Southgate made one change for the final group game, with Conor Gallagher replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold. After a quiet opening 45 minutes, though, Gallagher was replaced by Mainoo for the second period.
There was no breakthrough in the final third, with England ending the group stage with just two goals scored. It was enough for them to top the group, though, with Denmark taking second spot after a goalless draw with Serbia and Slovenia also progressing as one of the four best third-placed teams.
Southgate may well be urged to change things up again in the next round as England take on another one of the third-placed teams, and Neville felt Mainoo did more than enough. "I'm certain Mainoo will start in the next game," the pundit said on ITV's post-match coverage.
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".He [Southgate] thought Gallagher may be the option, obviously, for the energy we talked about before the game. But I think it was quite obvious that we needed someone in there who would get us playing and Mainoo does that, I think [Adam] Wharton's capable of that as well.
"I think the more substitutions were made, the less rigid we looked. We looked so basic in the first half, it was a struggle to watch that [but] it moved forward a lot in the second half, We didn't get the result but there were glimpses of what we can be."
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Kobbie Mainoo made an impression during his 45 minutes on the pitch (Getty Images)Mainoo also impressed Neville's fellow pundit Roy Keane. He wasn't the only one to catch the Irishman's eye, though, with Keane banging the drum for Cole Palmer after the Chelsea man was handed his first minutes of the tournament.
"I thought Mainoo looked very comfortable there, but the one I'm always excited to watch, I think Palmer certainly has that X-factor," Keane said. "I know we were saying why didn't he come on maybe in the first or second game, but when he came on, every time he gets the ball you think something's going to happen.
"There was certainly a bit more flow to their game in the last 15, 20 minutes but still no end product. They [England] didn't really test the goalkeeper, but there are one or two positives with the clean sheet but we go back to it, they need to show a bit more quality in attacking areas, but I do love Palmer, I think he's an amazing player."
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