Kobbie Mainoo was given a chance to impress Thomas Tuchel from the start as England suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Japan at Wembley.
Only one of the three Manchester United players involved with England this month featured in Thomas Tuchel’s starting line-up on Tuesday night.
Harry Maguire and Marcus Rashford were both named on the bench for England’s final match of their March internationals, after drawing 1-1 against Uruguay on Friday night.
Mainoo, who has plenty of competition for places in the England squad ahead of the World Cup, gave a good account of himself in the middle of the pitch alongside Elliot Anderson.
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Kobbie Mainoo gets another chance to impress Thomas Tuchel ahead of World Cup
Although Mainoo missed a lot of football this season due to being overlooked by former United head coach Ruben Amorim, the young midfielder cannot say Tuchel hasn’t given him a chance to make the World Cup squad.
Tuchel has some big decisions to make over his squad, with Mainoo being among them, as to whether he’s done enough to compete at the World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
After getting approximately 30 minutes off the bench against Uruguay, Mainoo was named in the starting line-up against Japan. He was given 72 minutes in an England shirt in Tuesday night’s friendly encounter.
Japan took the lead after 22 minutes, Kaoru Mitoma was left untracked inside the box before placing the ball to the left of Jordan Pickford. England were punished after United-linked Cole Palmer gave possession away, with Mainoo drawing questions over whether he could have made more of an effort to prevent Japan’s counter-attack.
However, there was a lot more to talk about from Mainoo’s performance rather than his role in Japan’s opener. We should note that it wasn’t the United starlet who gave the ball away for the goal, nor was he close to the penalty area when beaten for pace.
The 20-year-old linked up nicely with Anderson, even though there were times when England looked too congested in the middle of the pitch due to the attacking players cutting in from wide positions.
Mainoo appeared to have more defensive responsibilities than usual when he played alongside Casemiro, which gives us an idea of how things could look if United launch a successful pursuit of Anderson from Nottingham Forest. He was also keen to carry the ball forward whenever there was an opportunity to do so.
With a 94% pass success rate, Mainoo kept things safe in the middle of the pitch and didn’t take many risks. He touched the ball 97 times and made nine defensive recoveries, on top of three clearances.
Former United academy graduate and current Everton star James Garner replaced Mainoo after 72 minutes.
The good news for United is that Mainoo got through both international games without any knocks or niggles. That means he’ll be focused on preparing for Leeds once he returns to United for training.
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Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire brought on in the second half
Rashford replaced Anthony Gordon when Garner replaced Mainoo.
The United loanee came on to try and turn the game on its head, but England were unable to find an equaliser.
England were keen to get the ball wide on the left flank when Rashford came on, but they were unable to find him in a dangerous position to impact the game.
Japan, to their credit, had a blue wall lined across the penalty area as England struggled to break them down.
With 77 minutes on the clock, England were putting pressure on Japan as Rashford recorded the first shot on target for the Three Lions. The United Academy graduate sent his effort straight at Japan goalkeeper Zion Suzuki.
Harry Maguire was introduced after 82 minutes, before coming close to scoring an equaliser after winning a header from a corner.
The experienced United defender was keen to get into the box as England continued to apply pressure.
England kept causing havoc for Japan’s defenders from corners, but they were unable to find a way through to score a single goal as the game ended 1-0.
Tuchel will be happy with the urgency shown by Maguire after coming off the bench. He made a real effort to make a difference, but it wasn’t England’s night.
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