Featured Image Credit: Getty/X/@ianwright0
Topics: Manchester United, FA Cup, England, Gareth Southgate, Kobbie Mainoo, Ian Wright
Alex Brotherton
Topics: Manchester United, FA Cup, England, Gareth Southgate, Kobbie Mainoo, Ian Wright
Ian Wright questioned England boss Gareth Southgate after Manchester United's dramatic FA Cup win against Liverpool.
United and Liverpool played out an FA Cup classic at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon, with Erik ten Hag's side snatching a 4-3 win to advance to the semi-finals.
The home side twice came from behind to win, with youngster Amad Diallo scoring in the 121st minute after United took the match to extra-time with a late Antony equaliser.
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United put in arguably their best performance of the season to overcome an in-form Liverpool side, with every player pulling their weight and fighting until the final moments.
One player who was particularly impressive was Kobbie Mainoo, the 18-year-old midfielder who started alongside Scott McTominay with Casemiro unavailable through injury.
The youngster has enjoyed a meteoric rise after becoming a regular member of Ten Hag's squad this season, prompting many fans and neutral to call for his inclusion in the England squad.
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However, when Gareth Southgate announced his England squad for upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Belgium over the next week, there was no place for Mainoo.
It's a decision plenty of United fans don't agree with, and neither does Ian Wright.
The former Arsenal striker was at Old Trafford covering the match with ITV Sport, and he sent Southgate a clear message about Mainoo.
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"How is Kobbie Mainoo not in that [England] squad?" Wright said in a video he uploaded to X.
He then turned to co-pundit Roy Keane and repeated the question: "Roy! How's Kobbie Mainoo not in that squad?
"Come on man, come on you know. [The] man was immense today, gosh."
When asked why he didn't hand Mainoo a first senior England call-up, Southgate said: "I think that he's doing brilliantly for a young player and we're never slow to put a young player into seniors.
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"But he's only had a handful of games and you have to be very careful development-wise in making those decisions at the right time.
"So we think ideally, we should allow him that space to develop at his own speed. He's not at the point in terms of number of games that Jude [Bellingham] and Bukayo [Saka] were when they came in for the first time."
Mainoo has represented England up to under-19 level, and could make his under-21s debut next week.