Manchester United icon Rio Ferdinand lamented the usage of Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer by Gareth Southgate in England's 1-0 win over Serbia to begin their Euro 2024 campaign.
Mainoo made his first competitive international appearance in the closing stages of the nervy victory, while Chelsea talisman Palmer was kept on the bench throughout.
And Ferdinand felt that Mainoo and Palmer both could have been used more prominently by Southgate in order to coast to three points, rather than scrape over the line.
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He told the BBC: "You would like to sit there and go: 'The game needed a bit more control, so where are the players that can do that?' Kobbie Mainoo, maybe a bit early if need be, but someone like a Cole Palmer has got that kind of swagger and arrogance.
"That 'give me the ball' the way (Dusan) Tadic came on for the Serbs, he came on and he was a bit 'give me the ball I am going to be an outlet for you guys'.
"The players, yes, need to take responsibility and show composure in club football all the time. I think also the structure of the team needs to be able to allow the players to do that as well in these moments, get yourself further up the pitch, create those spaces in the pockets and the rotations that we saw in the first half.
"The big difference is that when the pressure was put onto the England team, they didn't respond in a very positive manner."
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Mainoo was brought on for Bellingham in the 86th minute as Southgate made just three of his permitted five changes, with Conor Gallagher and Jarrod Bowen also entering the fray for Trent Alexander-Arnold and Bukayo Saka.
A criticism often levied against Southgate is that when leading matches he prefers to protect that advantage, rather than build on it, most famously evidenced in the Euro 2020 final. Luke Shaw gave the Three Lions the lead in the second minute but sat back for the majority of the match, allowing Italy to equalise and then win on penalties.
But Southgate had a big grin on his face at the final whistle, with three big points in the bag, and believes that "suffering" against Serbia will serve England well in the future.
"They are a strong team, we had to suffer a bit which I think is really good for us," he explained. "I think to defend the box the way we did was really good for us. I was really pleased with a lot of the play. Second half we didn't keep it as well as I would have liked but to get the win is very important."
