Hold your nose for the honking takes and browse social media during an England game. You’ll see thousands – literally thousands – of identical posts about Gareth Southgate being “too negative”, “holding the team back” and “always picking his favourites”.
Yet England will go into a major tournament this summer as one of the bookmakers’ favourites, alongside Didier Deschamps’ France, with probably their most aggressive system in generations and a starting XI that doesn’t seem finalised.
Possibly the main position that could dominate discourse between now and their opening game of Euro 2024 against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16 is central midfield.
Whether it’s a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 (or both), England look set to have three bodies in the engine room when they take to the pitch.
With 50 caps and a fine first season at Arsenal under his belt, Declan Rice will be one. Having gone from strength to strength since heading to Real Madrid, Jude Bellingham will be another. But the identity of the third player remains a mystery.
A few months ago, the only candidates would have been the ageing Jordan Henderson, the floundering Kalvin Phillips and the unconvincing Conor Gallagher. The emergence of Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo provides the team with another option, opens up a world of possibility for how they play and, whisper it, potentially fixes a problem that’s seemingly haunted them forever.
What Kobbie Mainoo offers England at Euro 2024
England have never had a player like Mainoo. However the 19-year-old’s career (and his game) develops, he is a unique footballer in this crop of talent and adds something the side has been missing for literal decades.
He takes the ball under extreme pressure from opponents, then has the athleticism and the technique to decide how to move the ball up the pitch. Sometimes that’s with short incisive passing that plays around the press; sometimes it can be by going on the proverbial ‘maze-up’, baffling the opposition and breaking through the press entirely.
Mainoo is a rare player who can do both. He is Michael Essien and Claude Makelele.
He is both David Silva and Sergio Busquets. He is a monster truck that moves like a BMX.
One of the major criticisms of Southgate’s reign focuses around England’s total loss of control in the final of Euro 2020 – the team’s visible anxiety over losing the ball in their own third led to them hopelessly playing long to relieve the pressure they were being put under by the Italians.
There wasn’t a player that day who could reliably take the ball in those challenging circumstances. Mainoo is exactly that player.
The problem Kobbie Mainoo solves
This should be obvious to anyone who’s watched England in a tournament since… [checks notes] their literal founding 152 years ago. They never, ever, dominate the ball against the big sides.
Even in their 2-0 win over Germany at Euro 2020 – arguably their biggest result under Southgate – they had 46 per cent of the ball. Against Italy in the final, 35 per cent.
An England team with Mainoo becomes a frightening prospect in those games. Sit off him, and England will dominate possession in your half while Rice, Bellingham, Bukayo Saka etc probe off the ball for gaps in which to receive. Press Mainoo, and he’ll wiggle through, opening up space of his own.
During England’s March friendly against Belgium, it seemed like there was no danger when he received the ball centrally – Youri Tielemans felt confident getting tight to him, with Romelu Lukaku, Amadou Onana and Orel Mangala all situated within a few yards of him.
However, a couple of twists later, Mainoo spun away, drew two more players toward him in a panic, thus freeing up the space for Bellingham to receive a pass on the edge of the box. From that, England won a penalty.
The problem that doesn't solve
During the two March friendlies, there was one consistent issue: the space between midfield and defence. England were on the front foot, but that openness led to them giving up more chances against Brazil than during the entire previous World Cup or Euros. If there was one criticism of Mainoo, it’s that he was too easily caught on the wrong side of the ball.
There are three solutions available. The first is to play Rice as a more defensive No.6, but that would be a waste of his ability, and moving Mainoo up would also defeat the purpose of having a fine passer and carrier like the teenager in that pivotal position.
The second option is to have a high level of pace in the back four, allowing the defensive line to remain high. Unless England want to blood near enough an entirely new defence, though (minus Kyle Walker), they don’t have the personnel to do that.
The solution will likely be option three: just live with it. It might be that, if Southgate sees his team as a high-pressing juggernaut with a suffocatingly high line to match, it may have to come at the cost of defensive solidity. If nothing else, it’ll be entertaining.
More Euro 2024 stories
Euro 2024 squads are being announced on a daily basis, while each nation has revealed the kits they'll be wearing.
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