Gareth Southgate has ignored Manchester United TWICE, and it’s backfired

Gareth Southgate has ignored Manchester United twice so far during the 2024 European Championships, and England are suffering as a consequence.

England‘s 2024 European Championship campaign has not started the way that many fans would have hoped, with a tight 1-0 win over Serbia followed up with a 1-1 draw against Denmark.

Manchester United pairing Kobbie Mainoo and Luke Shaw headed off to Germany with the squad, but in the opening two games, Mainoo is the only one to make an appearance, playing five minutes against Serbia.

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England have been thoroughly underwhelming thus far, with star players such as Harry Kane, Phil Foden, and Trent Alexander-Arnold failing to replicate the fantastic form they have shown for their respective clubs.

Jude Bellingham, Jordan Pickford and Marc Guehi are perhaps the only players who have shown their talents so far, and Southgate is completely ignoring brilliant 19-year-old Mainoo, who must be given a chance.

It is not like Southgate doesn’t give faith to young stars, with 19-year-old Bukayo Saka playing a starting Role during the 2020 Euros and 19-year-old Bellingham doing the same during the 2022 World Cup.

Manchester United trusted Mainoo and reaped the rewards with brilliant performances across multiple months and a winning goal in the FA Cup final to finish—and Southgate is completely ignoring this by not giving Mainoo the minutes he deserves.

Secondly, Southgate has ignored United’s stance on Shaw. After an injury against Luton Town in mid-February, Shaw was ruled out for three months, and there are worries that he may not be able to feature again for the rest of the season.

Ultimately, United saw Shaw suffer a further setback during rehabilitation and decided that he was better off being ruled out for the rest of the campaign. Just weeks later, England decided to call him up for the 2024 tournament.

Shaw himself admitted that the setback occurred as he was trying to rush his return, and England have seemingly made the same mistake. Shaw was injected into first-team training and was on the bench for the Serbia opener, but has missed all full training sessions since and is now a doubt for the rest of the tournament.

Again, Southgate and his staff have ignored what has happened during the last six months and have paid the price. Shaw and Mainoo would both be players who could elevate and fix England’s performances, but so far, there are no signs that England will correct their ways.

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