Rio Ferdinand has sent his clearest message to date about Manchester United star Kobbie Mainoo after England’s lacklustre 0-0 draw against Slovenia at Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s men finished top of Group C and secured their place in the knockout rounds with a largely uneventful display against Slovenia.
England were toothless in attack and offered very little threat against their final Group C opponents at the RheinEnergieStadion in Cologne.
Despite being considered one of the tournament favourites, the Three Lions have disappointed under Gareth Southgate in the early stages of the tournament.
England were able to secure all three points against Serbia in their Group C opener thanks to Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham opening the scoring in the first half.
Following on from the 1-0 win over Serbia, England faced Denmark and took the lead inside 20 minutes through Three Lions captain Harry Kane.
However, Morten Hjulmand cancelled out Harry Kane’s opener inside the first half and England offered very little in response to Denmark in the Euro 2024 tie.
England managed to finish top of Group C ahead of second-place Denmark, who were held to a 0-0 draw against Serbia on Wednesday.
Ferdinand’s instant reaction to Man Utd star
The Three Lions appeared lively in the second half against Slovenia when Gareth Southgate turned to Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer.
Kobbie Mainoo earned his senior England call-up during the March international break after his breakout season at Old Trafford.
Despite his remarkable 2023-24 campaign at club level, the 19-year-old Manchester United star had limited playing time for England ahead of the Slovenia match.
Mainoo played only four minutes in a brief cameo appearance against Serbia before he was left as an unused substitute against Denmark.
However, Southgate replaced Chelsea star Conor Gallagher at the break and introduced Mainoo into the England midfield against Slovenia.
Chelsea star Cole Palmer, who had a remarkable season with the Blues, came on in the 71st minute after he replaced Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka.
Both Palmer and Mainoo earned rave reviews for their performances, with the latter also catching the instant reaction of United legend Paul Scholes.
Rio Ferdinand took to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, and urged Southgate to start Palmer, Mainoo and Anthony Gordon for England’s next matches.
The United legend went as far as to suggest that the aforementioned trio could fire England to the Henri Delaunay trophy at Euro 2024 in Germany.
“If Kobbie/Palmer + Gordon start our next games…. We will go on & win this tournament!” Ferdinand tweeted.
“Trust The Fearless Youngsters Gareth [sic].”
Southgate talks Mainoo and Palmer
Speaking after the disappointing draw, Southgate welcomed the impact that both Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer had for England.
“I don’t think we were going to go from where we were to winning three or four nil – it’s not realistic in the intensity of the game,” he told ITV.
“But there were a lot of things we were very pleased with. We have to take one step at a time.
“Tonight was an improvement and we’ve got to improve to win in the next round clearly.”
Southgate added: “They [Mainoo and Palmer] are really young players so we’re balancing, blooding them in a different environment, but they had a really good impact when they came on and used the ball really well.”