TEDDY SHERINGHAM DETAILS REASON WHY ENGLAND SHOULD DROP KOBBIE MAINOO VS SWITZERLAND

Teddy Sheringham believes Gareth Southgate should drop Kobbie Mainoo for England's quarter-final clash against Switzerland.

Mainoo was handed his first start as England beat Slovakia 2-1 in the last-16 and, despite admitting the teenager "did very well", Sheringham feels he should be axed in favour of Anthony Gordon. The former England striker wants to see Gordon on the left, with Phil Foden moving into the No.10 role and Jude Bellingham taking Mainoo's place alongside Declan Rice in the centre of the park.

"I thought Kobbie Mainoo did very well," Sheringham said. "He's very comfortable on the ball and had no problems at all. He's a natural midfield player, which means it's going to come naturally to him.

"I don't like Trent Alexander-Arnold coming in there – I know he can find an unbelievable pass, but that's not everything about playing in midfield. Mainoo looks a better fit for the role. Having said that, I would actually leave Mainoo out of the next game, to allow Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham to play in midfield together with Declan Rice behind him.

"I'd bring in Anthony Gordon at left wing just to give the team some sort of release to relieve pressure. He can run onto those balls over the top and get the defence thinking about something different."

Sheringham, speaking to Poker Sites, added:‌ "At the moment, everyone wants the ball to feet, which is making everything very tight and allows the opposition to come close to you. Gordon on the left would allow us to get in behind the defence more.

"I can see that benefitting Harry Kane too – if he drops to receive the ball, Gordon can make those runs to stretch the defence, and all of a sudden defenders won't get as close to Kane anymore. That could be invaluable in the next few games."

England will have to make at least one change, with Marc Guehi suspended for the match after picking up his second yellow card of the tournament against Slovakia. And Southgate could be set to switch to a back-three formation as a result.

England worked on using a back-three formation in training on Wednesday, having previously used that tactic when the Three Lions reached the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

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2024-07-04T12:17:02Z dg43tfdfdgfd