Since Jordan Henderson is hurt and can’t play, Kobbie Mainoo could get his first start for England in their game against Belgium on Tuesday at Wembley.
Henderson missed some of England’s training last week because he hurt his leg. Gareth Southgate said that the Ajax player won’t be risked against Belgium, even though he finished training on Monday.
Declan Rice, who has 50 caps, will be captain of England for the first time. Henderson is the latest player to get hurt this month, making it an unheard of number of injuries. This means that 18-year-old Mainoo from Manchester United could play with him in midfield.
This month, Mainoo was first called up to the England Under-21s, but Southgate then promoted him to the adult team. He came off the bench to play his first game against Brazil in Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Wembley. Henderson did not play.
Southgate said on Monday of Henderson, who has 81 caps, “He trained this morning, but he is still aware of the problem he has had.” His goal was to give himself every chance, but he won’t be accessible.
The England manager was asked if he would pick Mainoo or move Jude Bellingham back to partner Rice. He said, “We have a couple of options with that.” Kobbie has a chance for tomorrow because we worked on both of those things in practice all week.
“He seems very calm,” Southgate said about Mainoo. “He’s clearly taking it all in. When you talk to him about tactics, he seems to be able to understand all of those ideas. With the help of their school, a lot of young players can now do that.
“He looks ready to play with the ball and receive it in tight spaces.” A lot of things are happening in a short amount of time, but you got to see some of his traits in the cameo the other day.
“When it comes to really young ones, they don’t always think about that.” For now, everything is going with the flow. As you get older, you may think about it more. He is just going with the flow and taking advantage of the chances that come up. It’s a beautiful, innocent moment.
He also said, “Kobbie is still growing.” Because we don’t have as many resources in that area, he is making faster growth in our squad. We are happy with how he has trained, though, and we can already see what he can bring.
“But I’m aware that we need to watch out for him and make sure he grows at the right rate. There are also chances for him to do well.”
Southgate is also going to give Ivan Toney of Brentford his first start for England in a year since his only other game. The England boss also said that he thought about calling up Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth this month.
Southgate asked, “Did we forget about him (Toney) while he was banned from betting?” We’ve always thought he was a good finisher, so no.
He finds good through passes, just like Kane. He’s not just a big man; he has other skills too.
“After [Callum] Wilson got hurt, we’ve been keeping an eye on [Ollie] Watkins, Toney, and [Dominic] Solanke.” At this point, we think Ollie has had a great season in every way. Ivan was a little ahead of Dom because he had been with us before.
