With the Women’s World Cup in full swing in Australia and New Zealand, the Lionesses are bidding to win major silverware in successive tournaments.
England get their campaign underway in Brisbane against tournament debutants Haiti on Saturday. Sarina Wiegman’s star-studded Euro-winning side boasts some of the best players in the women’s game at this moment in time, so we jumped on Reddit to pose a curious question.
We asked the Three Lions subreddit which of the current men’s squad would you remove in favour of one of the women’s players.
- 50% of fans want to replace Harry Maguire with Millie Bright
- 16% of fans want to replace Kalvin Phillips with Kiera Walsh
- 10% of fans want to replace Raheem Sterling with Lauren James
- 10% of fans want to replace Mason Mount with Ella Toone
- 8% of fans want to replace Jordan Pickford with Mary Earps
- 6% of fans want to replace Kyle Walker with Lucy Bronze
50% of England Fans Would Swap Millie Bright For Harry Maguire in the England Men’s Team
While England’s women enjoyed a dazzling breakthrough year in 2022 – lifting the Euros and sweeping aside Brazil in the Finalissima – the men’s side have been left to stew over three successive tournaments where they may have felt they could’ve progressed further.
As the focus switches to the far reaches of the world, back at home things are far from comfortable for one of Gareth Southgate’s most loyal generals.
Harry Maguire’s bewildering drop in form over the past few years has reached a new low point, as Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag named Bruno Fernandes as the new club captain.
This leaves his future at Old Trafford in limbo – does he stay and fight for his place, or accept his new reality as a squad player?
Nevertheless, the most popular response to our proposition on Reddit involved Maguire, with 50% of respondents saying they would rather have England captain Millie Bright in the men’s team.
Six WSL titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League triumph certainly blows Maguire’s honours haul out the water, and her assured, calmness in defence is preferable over his deer-caught-in-the-headlights calamity.
Maguire isn’t the only player to feel the wrath of the Three Lions subreddit – 16% of fans want Barcelona midfielder Kiera Walsh to replace Kalvin Phillips. Only two years ago the out-of-favour Manchester City man was named England’s Player of the Year following their run to the Euros final, but he is the forgotten man among City’s gleaming treble-winning squad.
A fairly disastrous switch to Chelsea also sees England fans take aim at one of Southgate’s standout performers over the past few years.
As many as 10% of fans want the Lionesses’ emerging gem Lauren James to replace Raheem Sterling in the squad and join her brother Reece James in the starting lineup.
A representative for Betting Sites commented on the data; “Once pegged as an efficient ball-playing defender, Maguire graceless, inelegant performances over the past few seasons have left him on the cusp of leaving the club he has captained for three-and-a-half years.
“This is enough for half of the England fanbase on Reddit to suggest that Lionesses captain Millie Bright would do a better job, despite the perceived gap in quality and the disparity in women’s and men’s pay at the highest level.
“The immunity to criticism has worn off for the heroes of that oh-so-nearly Euros campaign in 2021, with Kalvin Phillips and Raheem Sterling also being thrown into the conversation.
“With England women’s enjoying far more success than their male counterparts, there’s no reason why they couldn’t do a better job.”
