England kicked off their UEFA Nations League 2024 campaign with a 0-2 away win against Ireland on Saturday at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. The result also meant caretaker manager Lee Carsley got off to a winning start in his charge of the Three Lions.
Two Irish-descent players who switched nationalities to England, Declan Rice and Jack Grealish were on the scoresheet, much to the frustration of the Irish crowd in the stadium.
Ireland started the game well, but the two quick-fire goals in the first-half from England caught them off-guard. The Three Lions managed the rest of the game well to claim all three points on the evening. Here are all the Ireland vs England Player Ratings!
Ireland National Football Team Player Ratings vs England
Goalkeeper
Caoimhin Kelleher – 7/10 – The Liverpool goalkeeper kept the scoreline respectable, coming up with four crucial saves!
Defenders
Matt Doherty – 6/10 – Won all his aerial duels, but couldn’t win one-on-one tackles against Anthony Gordon. Subbed off at 58 minutes.
Seamus Coleman – 6/10 – Tried to keep Ireland’s defensive shape, but phased out as a the game went on. Subbed off at 57 minutes due to injury.
Nathan Collins – 6/10 – Couldn’t win any ground duels against the likes of Grealish and Saka, but did well with recovering the ball from the tackles made by his teammates
Dara O’Shea – 6/10 – The Ipswich Town defender had a 78% pass completion rate and made four clearances.
Robert Brady – 6.5/10 – Featured for 82 minutes before being subbed off. Was the most effective of the Irish defenders.
Midfielders
Jayson Molumby – 7/10 – The second best player for Ireland on the pitch. Missed one big chance to score, but his defensive attributes were crucial in keeping the scoreline from getting embarrassing.
William Smallbone – 6/10 – The Southampton man tried to transition Ireland’s progress from defence to attack, but couldn’t do much.
Sammie Szmodics – 7.5/10 – Extremely industrious and direct in his approach to attack the English defence. Best player for Ireland on the pitch.
Forwards
Chiedozie Ogbene – 6/10 – Largely ineffective. Was dominated by Harry Maguire.
Adam Idah – 5.5/10 – Marc Guehi didn’t give him an inch’s space throughout the 75 minutes he was on the pitch. Couldn’t create an impact.
Substitutes
Jake O’Brien – 5/10
Jason Knight – 6/10
Alan Browne – 6.5/10
Kasey McAteer – 5/10
Evan Ferguson – N/A
England National Football Team Player Ratings vs Ireland
Goalkeeper
Jordan Pickford – 7.5/10 – Just made one save, but the reason for his high rating is that Pickford was the most accurate passer (96% completion) among all players on the pitch from both teams.
Defenders
Levi Colwill – 7.5/10 – Made the most number of tackles among all players in the English team (3). Passing could be better.
Harry Maguire – 7.5/10 – As always, Harry Maguire proves his mettle for England and all we can wonder is what will it take for him to do the same for Manchester United.
Marc Guehi – 8/10 – Guehi seemed to have carried his incredible tournament form for England into the Nations League. Played the full 90 minutes and was impressive, especially in winning aerial duels against Idah.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10 – At his mercurial best. The vision Trent possesses is rare. Created two big chances for his teammates from deep. Won 100% of his attempted tackles.
Midfielders
Kobbie Mainoo – 7.5/10 – 2024 is turning out to be quite an incredible year for the youngster from Manchester United. We can see his partnership with Declan Rice blooming with each passing game. Played 77 minutes, and didn’t put a foot wrong.
Declan Rice – 9/10 – What a way to silence a crowd that was hostile towards him for known reasons of his nationality. Easily the best player of the game as he scored one and provided the assist for England’s second goal scored by Jack Grealish.
Bukayo Saka – 7.5/10 – At his creative best, Saka completed the most dribbles (4) in this game among any other player on the pitch. Interestingly, he also won the most duels (8) compared to any other player on the pitch.
Jack Grealish – 8.5/10 – The most fouled player on the pitch and another player who saw hostility from the crowd, Grealish silenced everyone in the stadium with his goal in the 26th minute. Didn’t put a foot wrong till the time he was substituted.
Anthony Gordon – 7.5/10 – We could see England’s right-wing issues being sorted out in the long term, thanks to Anthony Gordon. At his industrious best, Gordon created three great chances for his teammates to score.
Forwards
Harry Kane – 6.5/10 – Not at his best today, missed two huge chances to score.
Substitutes
Angel Gomes – 6/10 – Displayed a 100% pass completion rate in a 13-minute stint.
Eberechi Eze – 6/10 – Came at the same time as Gomes and did what he does best, attack and try to score or create a chance for his teammates.
Morgan Gibbs-White – 6.5/10 – Part of the triple substitution with Eze and Gomez, Gibbs-White impressed the most in his 14 minutes, creating three great chances for England to extend their lead.
John Stones – N/A – Came in too late to have any impact on the game’s result
Jarrod Bowen – N/A – Came in too late to have any impact on the game’s result