Five positives for England heading into knockouts, from Mainoo and Palmer to their best player so far at Euro 2024

I DON’T think you can hide away from the fact that the 0-0 draw with Slovenia was deeply disappointing.

Even though England have won the group.

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England were held to a drab 0-0 draw by Slovenia on Tuesday night[/caption]

Rex

Fans in Cologne and those watching at home were left disappointed by the result[/caption]

REX

But there are plenty of positives to take from the match[/caption]

And it’s not a surprise that there’s been lots of chatter from England supporters, over the last few hours expressing their dismay at how the team have been playing at the Euros.

We all know they can play a lot better. I think they will do, and I think there are a few reasons to be positive.

Reason One

First of all, I’m starting with the defence. Mark Guehi, I think, has been outstanding.

I think he’s been England‘s best player over the three games.

There was a worry for me that they might miss Harry Maguire, purely because of his experience in the last three tournaments.

But Guehi, he’s come in and he’s developed a good partnership with John Stones.

He’s been confident and I have absolutely no doubts that he will continue to play well in the last 16 on Sunday.

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Reason Two

Declan Rice has impressed me. He’s played like a captain.

He spoke positively ahead of the Slovenia game and I thought for the first 20 to 25 minutes that he really was outstanding.

He didn’t do everything right, he’s had a few difficult moments. But he really does look a class act.

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Marc Guehi and Declan Rice were two bright lights in an otherwise dismal display[/caption]

And he’s leading by example and I’ve absolutely no doubt he’ll do the same on Sunday.

Reason Three

This brings me on to number three and that’s Rice’s partner next to him.

It’s not going to be Trent Alexander-Arnold. And it’s not gonna be Conor Gallagher. But Kobbie Mainoo came on in a difficult situation at half time.

And I thought the Manchester United teenager was excellent again. He knows he can do better.

I’m sure he’ll do better, but it was still an accomplished performance from him and he’s going to be a huge player over the next few years.

I wasn’t so sure that he was totally ready to be thrown in at the deep end, but I thought he did well against Slovenia and I’m sure that he will keep his place.

REX

Kobbie Mainoo turned in a display well beyond his years against the Slovenians[/caption]

Reason Four

That brings us to Cole Palmer again. He had 20-odd minutes against Slovenia and he looked like he’s really ready to take the Euros by storm.

There’s a lot more to come from him, but I thought it was the right decision to play him.

And I would start him now on Sunday because I feel that Bukayo Saka, as excellent player as he is, still doesn’t look 100 per cent.

So I would put Palmer in for Bukayo Saka.

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Cole Palmer should be in contention to start in the last 16[/caption]

Reason Five

That brings us on to Harry Kane.

There’s been a lot of criticism of the captain over the last day or so, but I think it’d be absolutely ludicrous to put him on the bench.

And there’s absolutely no chance of that happening, even though some fans are demanding it.

You only have to look at his international record to justify his place in the starting XI. He’s only scored once so far, he could have scored one or two others.

But the key thing for me is I thought he was better against Slovenia. His movement was better.

And I think if you look at Kane’s performances over the years when he has suffered an injury, he normally does take a few weeks, even if he’s only out for a couple of weeks, he normally takes three or four weeks to get back to his best.

So I’m sure that he will be back to his best. He needs to be back to his best on Sunday.

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Harry Kane turned in a better display against Slovena – despite not scoring[/caption]

And finally,

Just a shoutout to the England fans. There was concern over how they behaved over here.

I think they’ve behaved pretty well at the last few tournaments when England had been abroad.

But, of course, you can’t hide the fact that some of them acted disgracefully at Wembley three years ago, even though most of them, or none of them, weren’t really proper England fans.

And while there were problems in Marseille, in Euro 2016 those who have come out to Germany, have enjoyed themselves.

There have been a few idiots singing about German bombers, but certainly, ahead of the game in Cologne, there were what, over 10,000 fans wasn’t a single incident, let alone an arrest.

And I know that’s what you should expect from all football fans. But that’s not been the case over the years.

But I think the demographic has changed a bit with the England fans and they’re not coming out to pick fights with the police and the security – famous last words.

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England fans have given a great account of themselves throughout the tournament[/caption]

Hopefully, that’s not the case. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy their return to Gelsenkirchen.

But most important of all, let’s hope they’ll watch a much better England performance and that they’ll all be able to prepare for a quarter-final in Dusseldorf.