has defended Harry Maguire and says it was ‘ridiculous’ that some England fans booed the captain at Wembley.
before England’s on Tuesday night.
England boss Gareth Southgate and Grealish says the team ‘didn’t like it one bit’.
Maguire has but has largely impressed for England, helping the Three Lions reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2018 and .
‘Personally I think it’s ridiculous,’ Manchester City forward Grealish said. ‘Harry’s been unbelievable for this country.
‘The Euros, the World Cup, he’s been outstanding and even tonight he was brilliant. Our first goal comes from him driving out with the ball.
‘Not every centre-back has those qualities. Like I said, he’s been a fantastic servant for this country and he’s been brilliant so I think it was ridiculous for him to get booed and it wasn’t something the team liked.’
Asked how Maguire would have responded to the boos, Grealish added: ‘Harry’s a strong-minded person. I think his performance tonight would have done him the world of good.
‘I also think that will only probably spur him on. Obviously, it’s not nice to hear when you’ve got a job to do.
‘I’d be the exact same, you know, it’d make you want to prove people wrong but we had a brilliant relationship with the supporters at the Euros last year and I think we need to keep it like that going into the World Cup.
‘On the whole, it wasn’t nice to hear boos for Harry and it was something that the whole team didn’t like one bit.’
England boss Southgate, meanwhile, said: ‘The reception was a joke, an absolute joke. I don’t know how it benefits anybody. We’re either all in it together or we’re not.
‘I imagine if you asked a few of them why they did it they probably wouldn’t even be able to answer. It’s mob mentality. One end of the ground you have a hardcore group trying to get his name sung – it wasn’t everybody.
‘Players will look at that and think, that could be me. It makes players not want to come. That happened with John Barnes here, that happened with Ashley Cole a couple of times, it happened with Raheem, now Harry.
‘We need Harry to do well. We aren’t going to win a World Cup with a load of players with three or four caps. That’s never happened in the history of the game.’
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