Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker could not see eye to eye on the role that one Manchester United star could play in the final of Euro 2024 in Germany.
Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo are the two Manchester United stars who have been a key part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad at the tournament.
Kobbie Mainoo has become a linchpin midfield figure for Gareth Southgate in the knockout rounds, having been overlooked early in the competition.
The 19-year-old United midfielder played only four minutes in the Group C opener against Serbia before he was left as an unused substitute in the Denmark match.
Mainoo then went on to produce a stunning cameo appearance against Slovenia in the final Group C match after he came off the bench for England.
The Stockport-born player started and played alongside Declan Rice in midfield for the wins over Slovakia, Switzerland and the Netherlands in the knockout rounds.
Luke Shaw, on the other hand, failed to play a single minute in the three Group C matches and the round-of-16 tie against Slovakia due to an injury.
The 29-year-old is England’s only specialist left-back at Euro 2024 and was named in the squad, despite missing the second half of United’s season due to injury.
Shaw has since recovered from injury and made cameo appearances in the penalty shootout win over Switzerland and the semi-final victory over the Netherlands.
Shearer and Lineker talk Man Utd star
England punched their ticket to the Euro 2024 final with their 2-1 comeback win against the Netherlands at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund on Wednesday.
The Three Lions were one of the early favourites to win this summer’s Euros, but Gareth Southgate’s men have struggled to impress with their performances.
Spain, on the other hand, are tipped as the favourites to win Sunday’s final and have won all six of their matches at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Luis de la Fuente’s men came from 1-0 down against France on Tuesday and secured a 2-1 semi-final victory at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Speaking ahead of the final, Alan Shearer has predicted that England will likely play the same team aside from Luke Shaw potentially coming into the starting XI.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he put Luke Shaw in from the start and then kept everything else the same,” he said on The Rest Is Football.
Both of Shaw’s appearances have come from the bench and Newcastle right-back Kieran Trippier has played as a makeshift left-back in the absence of the United star.
Gary Lineker warned Shearer that Arsenal star Bukayo Saka and Shaw could be exposed on the flank by Spain wingers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
“I suppose what might be more difficult against Spain, because Spain play the two wingers, is whether they trap England’s two wing-backs deeper than normal and whether we take the chance on playing high and the chance on leaving them,” he said.
“It’ll be a little bit bluff and double-bluff.”
Shearer reacts to Lineker’s England worry
Shearer made his feelings clear that Bukayo Saka and Shaw could still work as wing-backs, despite the threat that Spain pose with their devastating wingers.
“That is a huge strength in what they’ve got in Yamal and Williams on either side,” he added.
“Yamal loves to come inside on his left foot, that’s what we wants to do, there are not many times where he goes on the outside on the right.
“So, if that’s going to happen, and you are going to play to play three at the back, which I think he may do, he should run into traffic, which hopefully might work to England’s benefit.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/kLnlUdN