Gary Neville ‘someone’ Man Utd man to start for England in Euro 2024 Last 16

Gary Neville has backed both Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton to feature in England’s Euro 2024 round of 16 clash.

The Three Lions will play the first round of the playoffs in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday after topping Group C, where they will likely face the Netherlands – although they won’t know for sure until Wednesday.

But that was despite a poor performance in the group stage, managing to win 1-0 against Serbia in their first game before drawing 1-1 and 0-0 against Denmark and Slovenia respectively.

One of the problem areas for Gareth Southgate has been in midfield, with Trent Alexander-Arnold starting alongside Declan Rice in the first two games but making changes in both.

Conor Gallagher started ahead of Alexander-Arnold in Slovenia’s goalless draw but lasted just 45 minutes, replaced at half-time by Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo.

Gary Neville’s ‘someone’ Kobbie Mainoo will start for England

England looked better following the introduction of Mainoo, who completed 33 of 34 passes – including three in the final third – while grabbing two balls in the opposition box and scoring four points.

Former Man Utd captain Neville – who works as a pundit for ITV’s competition – believes Mainoo has done enough to start on Sunday, and is backing Crystal Palace midfielder Adam Wharton to improve for the Three Lions, despite not seeing a single minute. the field in this competition at the moment.

“I’m sure Kobbie Mainoo will start in the next game,” said Neville (via BBC Sport). “He thought Conor Gallagher might be selected because of his ability but we need someone who can make us play and Mainoo does that.

“Adam Wharton can do that too.

“We looked important in the first half. It was a struggle to watch but it progressed a lot in the second half even though we didn’t get the result but there were glimpses of what we can be.”