England put in a phenomenal display yesterday. The young players showcased their excellent ability and got a good scoreline against their rivals Scotland. In the end, the match finished 3-1 to England, meaning Gareth Southgate has plenty of reasons to celebrate. However, there is one factor about the match which irritated not only me, but other England fans too. And that was the substitution to bring on Harry Maguire.
It just didn’t make any sense to me and the stupidity of the substitution was demonstrated by his almost immediate own goal.
After the match, Southgate did what any good manager would do by protecting Maguire and speaking out against criticism of him. This is fair enough, as I don’t think he’s warranted the hatred shown to him by pundits and the like.
Gareth Southgate’s protection of Harry Maguire will cost England
However, what I will say is this – To persist in playing Maguire, due to nothing other than protection and “showing the haters who’s boss”, for lack of a better phrase, is ludicrous. I would understand if Maguire shows any signs of promise, but he doesn’t. He shows signs of decline and it’s about time Southgate gave up on this era.
After all, there were some great options on the bench who could have come on during this time. For example, the young and upcoming talents in Harry Maguire and Fikayo Tomori, but instead he went for Maguire and that sub backfired. As demonstrated by Mark Goldbridge, sometimes Southgate treats Maguire like his son in that he can do no wrong.
Maguire shouldn't even be on the pitch. Colwill and Tomori should be getting their chance. Favouritism by Southgate biting him on the arse big time
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) September 12, 2023
It’s fair enough to protect your players. But it’s not fair enough to start mediocre players ahead of young and upcoming talents, denying them invaluable experience.
What did you make of Scotland vs England last night?