Chelsea\u2019s spritely midfielder Billy Gilmour was voted Man of the Match as Scotland picked up a crucial point in a gutsy goalless draw with England on Friday evening and pundit Gary Neville is full of praise for the young midfielder.<\/p>\n
Neville opined that Gilmour’s performance for Scotland “sobered” England at Wembley on Friday evening despite the Scots entering the English capital as huge underdogs but managed to come out with a valuable point after holding the Three Lions to a goalless draw.<\/p>\n
Gilmour was making his first competitive start for his country and was fittingly rewarded for his gallant efforts with the Man of the Match award after a splendid display in the middle of the pitch.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Former Manchester United defender Neville\u00a0was full of praise for the youngster’s display against the Three Lions.<\/p>\n \u201cHe came into a cup game against Liverpool, I think, for his first game for Chelsea, and he was brilliant that night,” Neville said on ITV.<\/p>\n “His temperament is fantastic, he accepts the ball. Just watching those clips there, it\u2019s a sobering experience, that, for England, because Gilmour and McGinn and McGregor, were better on the ball than the England midfielders, but not just that, Tierney, McTominay and Hanley at the back, they were better on the ball and passing the ball into midfield.<\/p>\n “Mings and Stones, Phillips and Rice, they all really struggled to get that build-up play right last night. Gilmour, to be fair, was always available – England don\u2019t have that player.<\/p>\n “Everyone points towards Kalvin Phillips, but he\u2019s not as good on the ball and accepting the ball as Gilmour is, he\u2019s [Gilmour] technically a little bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n Neville’s ITV colleagues Graeme Souness and Patrick Vieira also shared similar views, with Souness even saying that England “desperately” need someone of Gilmour’s ilk.<\/p>\n Souness said: \u201cHe doesn\u2019t give the ball away, he\u2019s got that fabulous thing for a central midfielder of passing the ball to the same coloured shirt.<\/p>\n “He keeps the ball in tight areas, he keeps them ticking over, he\u2019s a fabulous little footballer.<\/p>\n “When you factor in that last season he only made five starts in the Premier League for Chelsea, he\u2019s not played a lot of football, he\u2019s coming into a hot house of a game, high tempo, lots of pressing, I thought he\u2019d only last an hour but he managed to stay there and he didn\u2019t dip too badly in the second-half.<\/p>\n “He\u2019s got that all-round awareness of where people are all the time and his first touch is generally away from the man who\u2019s marking him.<\/p>\n “He creates space for himself and England need someone like him desperately.\u201d<\/p>\n Vieira added: \u201cI think he had a terrific game. I really love his technical ability, he loves to get on the ball, he\u2019s not quite physical and really strong, but his personality allowed him to get on the ball and to make the game from the back.<\/p>\n “His team-mates are not scared to give him the ball because they know how good he is on the ball and I think he\u2019s got a really good future ahead of him.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"