‘Should have started’ - England fans praise Jack Grealish after USA stalemate

England were held to a 0-0 draw against USA in their second World Cup group game in Qatar on Friday night.

After the impressive 6-2 thrashing of Iran on Monday (21 November) Gareth Southgate’s side struggled to break down the US in what was a tight contest with few chances for both sides.

USA were looking to build on their 1-1 draw against Wales on Monday and looked the stronger team for large parts of the game against Southgate’s side. Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams shone for the US, as England’s midfield struggled to get any sort of control of the game.

Bukayo Saka had a half chance in the first half, and after a lacklustre second, England’s best chance came in second half injury time as Harry Kane headed over from close range after Luke Shaw’s free-kick. Jude Bellingham struggled to get into the game and had a frustrating evening after his brilliant performance against Iran on Monday.

It was a disappointing performance from Southgate’s side, although England looked more threatening when Jack Grealish came on 25 minutes from time. The former Villa skipper was drawing fouls from the US and looked dangerous from the left-hand side. But despite bringing on Jordan Henderson and Marcus Rashford England couldn’t find a way past Gregg Berhalter’s resolute side.

The result leaves England top of the group on four points, and they are in still in pole position to qualify for the last 16. But the result means they will have to wait until their final group game with Wales on Tuesday to seal a spot in the knockout rounds.

‘Grealish should have been on from the start’

During the game, fans praised Grealish’s impact, and many thought he should have been brought on earlier in the contest.

Posting on Twitter, one fan wrote: “No Foden or Trent, Grealish should have been on from the start, and our 2 best players subbed off early. No desire to press, or win for that matter.”

Another wrote: “They should’ve had rashford and Grealish on earlier tbh.”

Another fan said: “Phil Foden and Jack Grealish play amongst the best players in the world week in week out and we are giving one of them 20 mins and the other no time, absolute joke.”

One supporter said: “They were all poor for me, not including the subs. Grealish made an impact but it was to little to late.”

One fan wrote: “Grealish and Foden have to be getting more minutes in this side. Oh, and if it wasn’t for Maguire, we could’ve lost!”