Michael Owen believes Harry Maguire was not at fault for Germany's goal during their 1-1 Nations League draw against England on Tuesday evening.
A late Harry Kane penalty spared England's blushes on a disappointing night for Gareth Southgate's side. Hosts Germany were the better team in Munich and took the lead through Borussia Monchengladbach midfielder Jonas Hofmann's second-half strike.
England supporters have pointed the blame at Maguire for being out of position. They've also criticised goalkeeper Jordan Pickford for his poor attempt at saving Hoffman's shot. Yet Owen believes the Manchester United skipper was not to blame for the error.
Former England international Owen has instead placed the blame on Declan Rice's shoulders. The former Ballon d'Or winner believes Rice was out of position, forcing Maguire to step forward and leave a huge hole in defence for Hofmann to take advantage of.
"I felt as though it was Declan Rice, he vacates his area and breaks the line," Owen told Channel 4. "I think he is in a good initial position when [Kai] Havertz comes into that area. But he [Rice] runs past Havertz and into an area, no mans land.
"He doesn’t even press the ball - and then that gives a problem to Harry Maguire. Does he now come out of that line and make a three? And he does, and there’s no pressure on the ball. Then all of a sudden there is a big gap."
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Yet England women's international Jordan Hobbs was critical of Pickford's attempt at stopping the strike. "He [Hofmann] did this all night where he got the ball in the No10 pocket," Hobbs told Channel 4.
"And yes it is a good finish but if you see it from another angle, Pickford should do better as he is diving to one side before the ball has even got there."
Former England international Joe Cole added: "We saw in the first half Manuel Neuer make the exact same save and he made it look easy. I think Pickford will be disappointed, he made a great save after that but with that one, he leant to one side and got it wrong."
Kane's goal against Germany was his 50th for England, achieving his half-century in just 71 appearances. The forward needs just three more goals to match Wayne Rooney's record and will be hoping to achieve it in the upcoming games against Italy and Hungary.
"I love scoring goals, I have always loved it especially for my country," Kane told Channel 4. "Whenever I can help the team I am glad to do that.
"It is really important to show the mentality, 1-0 behind we showed good character to get back into the game and get a result. We are playing against a very good Germany side. We still have important matches but the World Cup will be here before we know it."
