The urge to linger on Kobbie Mainoo’s very un‑English piece of midfield play was understandable. So much hope was packed into the moment when Mainoo took the ball on the half‑turn, got his head up, weighed up the simple pass back to Ezri Konsa and then decided against the safe option.
Here he was: England’s answer to Luka Modric, their very own Andrea Pirlo, a talent with the technique and ability to beat the press, control the tempo and cut opponents open by seeing the kind of openings that simply would not occur to the other players hoping to fill the third spot in Gareth Southgate’s midfield.
It was time to believe the hype.
England were 15 minutes into their friendly with Belgium, and they were rocking. John Stones was already off the pitch, a twinge in his groin forcing his early departure. Jordan Pickford had given away the opening goal by sending a clearance straight to Amadou Onana, who teed up Youri Tielemans for a nice finish from 20 yards. Lewis Dunk and Konsa were teetering at centre-back. Southgate’s entire first-choice back four was unavailable and Jérémy Doku was threatening to run riot down Belgium’s left flank.
The mood was flat. Mainoo lifted it. He is not like other English midfielders. He does not panic when he receives possession in a tight spot. His second touch is not a tackle and he does not try to win plaudits by wasting energy on chasing down hopeless causes. Mainoo makes opponents chase him. If he finds space he dribbles into it and changes the angle of the attack.
England have been crying out for that kind of composure for a long time. Nobody could look at Mainoo sparking the move that led to Ivan Toney’s penalty by linking with Jude Bellingham after producing a gorgeous little spin away from Tielemans, and fail to conclude that the Manchester United midfielder has to be part of Southgate’s Euro 2024 squad.
That debate is surely over after the youngster’s excellence on his first start for his country; the only question now is whether he has done enough to start in the summer.