Gary Neville thinks an injury to Harry Maguire would be a bigger issue for England than the loss of Harry Kane from the Euros squad.
Gareth Southgate has a lot of difficult choices to make ahead of the European Championship this summer, especially if Neville and Jamie Carragher’s debate last night on Sky Sports was anything to go by.
However, Manchester United defender Maguire and Tottenham striker Kane are two players who will definitely start at the tournament if fit and are the top two players in our England ladder.
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Maguire has been part of a United side who have only conceded 33 goals in the Premier League this season, while Kane has contributed 19 goals and 12 assists in 28 matches for Spurs this term.
And Neville thinks Maguire would be a bigger loss to England than Kane if either player picked up an injury before or during the Euros.
“I always imagine losing a player,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “So you lose Harry Maguire. That is a big problem for Gareth Southgate. I think it is his biggest problem.”
He added: “If you’ve then got John Stones as your other centre-back… Think if you’ve got Stones and [Tyrone] Mings, Stones and [Conor] Coady, Stones and [Eric] Dier. I am not having it.”
When asked if he thought Maguire would be a bigger loss than Kane, Neville continued: “Yes I do.
“For this squad, yes. Harry Kane is the best player in the squad, but if Gareth wants to have a back four and go 4-3-3, the only chance of that is keeping Harry Maguire fit.
“We’ve seen Coady in a back four tonight. Mings in a back four, I like him but I don’t think he can play in a back four at the level we are talking about in terms of winning the tournament.”
On how an injury to Kane would impact the group, Neville said: “I do think there is a problem if Harry Kane gets injured. But you could go with [Marcus] Rashford, [Dominic] Calvert-Lewin, [Raheem] Sterling as a false forward, [Phil] Foden. There are options that England could [use and] still win games.
“But with Harry Maguire injured, I think the ability to go to a back four is lost.”
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