Manchester United legend Paul Scholes made his feelings perfectly clear on where Gareth Southgate made a key mistake in England’s 1-1 draw against Denmark on Thursday.
England secured a hard-fought 1-0 win over Serbia in their Group C opener at Euro 2024 in Germany last Sunday at the Veltins-Arena.
Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham scored in the first half against Serbia, which proved enough to seal all three points for Gareth Southgate’s men.
However, the Three Lions dropped costly points in their second Group C encounter and England boss Gareth Southgate was left tactically exposed.
England broke the deadlock inside the opening 20 minutes after Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane found the back of the net with a clinical close-range finish.
But Denmark rallied back into the contest in the 34th minute after a thumping long-range strike from Morten Hjulmand beat England No 1 Jordan Pickford.
England’s momentum faltered before half-time and the Three Lions were largely unimpressive in the second half, with Southgate offering very little for his side.
Scholes sends clear-cut message to Southgate
England missed out on the chance to automatically qualify for the knockout stages of Euro 2024 after dropping costly points against Denmark.
The Three Lions, who are considered one of the tournament favourites, are top of Group C and are two points clear of second-place Denmark and third-place Slovenia.
Serbia are currently bottom with only one point, but all four teams in Group C could still reach the round of 16 if the results went their respective ways.
Gareth Southgate, who was once linked with Manchester United, will need England to secure a crucial result against Slovenia to ensure his side’s place in the last 16.
Paul Scholes took to Instagram Stories and sent a clear-cut message to England boss Southgate during the second half of the Euro 2024 match.
The United legend simply shared a photo of Red Devils star Kobbie Mainoo, suggesting that Southgate should have brought him on for England.
Kobbie Mainoo had a remarkable breakout season at Old Trafford and his exploits earned him his senior call-up for England during the March international break.
Southgate included the 19-year-old United midfielder in his Euro 2024 squad, but Mainoo has received limited playing time for England at the tournament.
Mainoo played only four minutes during a brief cameo against Serbia before he was left as an unused substitute against Denmark.
Why is Southgate snubbing Mainoo?
Southgate has not started Kobbie Mainoo in the heart of midfield due to his persistence to play Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold in an experimental role.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has drifted into midfield at times for Liverpool, but the role is not the preferred position of the England international.
Southgate has been deploying Trent in midfield alongside Arsenal star Declan Rice and the Liverpool defender has been exposed in the role.
The England boss was forced to withdraw the 25-year-old Trent early in the second half against Denmark and replaced him with Chelsea star Conor Gallagher.
Speaking after the Denmark match, Southgate said (via Goal): “I wanted to get Conor on; we needed some energy and to press better.
“He’s [Trent] had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would.
“We know it’s an experiment. We know we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Philips.
“We’re trying different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like.”