Gareth Southgate addressed his provisional England squad for the final time on Tuesday morning before whittling down the group to just 26.
The Three Lions kick off their Euro 2020 campaign against Croatia on 13 June and with 19 different players being utilised in March’s World Cup qualifiers, the jury is still out about how they will line-up.
If Southgate follows the pattern set by the 2018 World Cup, those who get the nod for the opening fixture can be confident of keeping their place. At that tournament, he only changed his starting XI on one occasion, and that was in the final group game against Belgium when his side had already qualified.
The great criticism of Southgate three years on, is that he does not appear to have settled on his best XI. A plethora of talent to pick from, granted, but with less than a fortnight to go, the England boss is running out of time to make his mind up.
One headache which has been eased was how to accommodate Mason Greenwood after the Manchester United striker pulled out of the squad through injury.
That could leave England looking something like this against Croatia.
GK – Jordan Pickford
Pickford has kept 10 clean sheets in 31 appearances and while he’s made two errors leading to goals this season, the same number can be found on Nick Pope’s charge sheet.
RB – Kyle Walker
In March, Walker was England’s most used right-back and defensively, the 31-year-old is likely to be favoured over Reece James, Kieran Trippier, and surprise inclusion Trent Alexander-Arnold.
CB – John Stones
The only real alternatives are Tyrone Mings and Conor Coady. Stones made 22 appearances in Manchester City’s title-winning campaign, displacing £40m Nathan Ake.
CB – Harry Maguire
Maguire is a doubt having suffered an ankle injury towards the end of Manchester United’s season. The fact he was able to travel to Gdansk for the Europa League final – albeit he didn’t feature – bodes well.
LB – Ben Chilwell
Southgate will have to choose between Chilwell and Luke Shaw. The former was his preferred option in two of the recent three World Cup qualifiers, despite the United left-back having a greater tackle success rate – 64 per cent to Chilwell’s 61 per cent – in the Premier League this season. Both have registered five assists.
CM – Jordan Henderson
Henderson will likely get the nod despite injuries limiting the Liverpool captain to 21 league games this season. The other option is to field Kalvin Phillips and risk a stagnant central midfield.
CM – Declan Rice
Playing a pivotal role in West Ham’s European qualification, Rice has easily outdone Phillips for tackle success, though he’s created fewer chances.
RW – Marcus Rashford
There are still concerns over whether Rashford is 100 per cent fit and he scored just once for England in the Nations League this season. Southgate gave both the United forward and Raheem Sterling a pointed warning before the Euros.
“There is an element of them having to deliver because we have got that competition and we are also going to have to be able to refresh the team,” Southgate said. “You of course have guys who have regularly delivered and you give them opportunities but it has to be a meritocracy.”
CAM – Mason Mount
Heading into the summer as a Champions League winner, Southgate has made no secret of his admiration for the Chelsea midfielder. While Jack Grealish missed 12 league games through injury, Mount has been going from strength to strength with nine goals in all competitions for the Blues, plus two for his country in the Nations League.
LW – Phil Foden
Foden seems almost sure of a start because of his versatility across the front three and given their respective seasons, he has certainly overtaken his domestic teammate Sterling.
ST – Harry Kane
Should anyone need reminding of Kane’s latest Premier League Golden Boot, he’s had it stitched into his bespoke boots for the tournament. The Tottenham striker’s tally of 33 league goals this season is his best of the last three years.
England’s final squad in full:
Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson, Sam Johnstone, Jordan Pickford
Defenders: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Conor Coady, Reece James, Harry Maguire, Tyrone Mings, Luke Shaw, John Stones, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Jude Bellingham, Jordan Henderson, Mason Mount, Kalvin Phillips, Declan Rice
Forwards: Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka, Jadon Sancho, Raheem Sterling
More on football
- ‘I want Burnley to be the UK’s favourite underdog’
- Deeney: ‘Middle-class white people are outraged about racism now – that’s what stokes change’
- The making of Everton’s versatile defender whose rise surprised even his own manager
- Hall: Martial is running out of chances to prove he is part of the future at Man Utd
- The Czech ‘warriors’ who rose from obscurity to fire West Ham into European contention
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3uGQi7Z
Post a Comment