England: Assemble

The World Cup is fast approaching, and coaches are in the midst of finalising their squads for the competition. For England, this is a pivotal tournament for them. How they perform will determine whether Southgate is still in a job or not and whether the last two tournament results were merely a fluke. He’s got to get his squad selection spot on, with any mistakes being heavily scrutinised by the media and fans alike. So this week, I’m going to take a crack at picking my 26-man squad for Qatar.

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Goalkeepers: Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), Nick Pope (Newcastle)

Goalkeeper is the one area where I don’t think there’s too much debate. Jordan Pickford has been England’s number one for a while now. Whilst I’m personally not his biggest fan, I’d take him. He’s a good shot stopper and has good distribution which will be good when teams press England high up the pitch. Aaron Ramsdale’s performances for Arsenal ensure he's got a place in my squad. Arsenal have made a great start to the season and since he replaced Bernd Leno as Arsenal’s starting keeper, he’s been very good. Sure, he can sometimes be a bit nervous on the ball, but he’s been an assured presence for Arsenal between the sticks and he would be in my starting line-up ahead of Pickford. The third keeper spot was between Nick Pope and Dean Henderson. Pope had a shocker against Germany, but it wasn’t enough for him to not make my squad. The thing that Pope has in his favour is that he’s been playing regularly at club level. Henderson was basically ignored by United last season and although he’s now a regular for Forest, I don’t think his performances warrant him going to the World Cup, unless a keeper is ruled out due to injury.

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Defenders: Reece James (Chelsea), Kyle Walker (City), Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), John Stones (City), Fikayo Tomori (Milan), Ben Chilwell (Chelsea), Eric Dier (Spurs), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle)

The first two things that people will notice is my inclusion of Trent Alexander-Arnold and my omission of Harry Maguire. TAA's defending can leave a lot to be desired. We’ve seen it first-hand this season for Liverpool as teams have identified him as a weak spot and consistently exploited his lack of defensive awareness. Despite this, what he can offer going forward is undeniable. He’s a special talent at the full back position. He’s by far England’s best passer of the ball and he offers creativity from right back that no one else can match. He wouldn’t be in my starting XI but having him as option of the bench in those tight matches could be a game-changer. Moving onto Harry Maguire, I don’t care what anyone thinks, he shouldn’t be on the plane. As a United fan, I’ve watched him week in and week out and he’s been tragic for the last 12-18 months. He may have experience in international tournaments, but it’s not enough to warrant him being picked. It amazes me how someone like Tomori, who is England’s most in-form centre half, can’t even get a look in. Him and Stones would be my centre-back partnership England, as I think they offer a nice balance at the heart of the defence.

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Midfielders: Declan Rice (West Ham), Jude Bellingham (Dortmund), Mason Mount (Chelsea), Phil Foden (City), Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), James Maddison (Leicester), Kalvin Phillips (City), James Ward-Prowse (Southampton)

Given my preferred formation for England would be 4-3-3, I’ve gone for 8 midfielders. Out of the ones selected, Rice, Bellingham, Foden & Mount are all certainties. A special shoutout to Bellingham. How this guy has developed during his time in Germany is insane. At first, I thought he was overrated, but after watching him play, how wrong I was. His all-round ability, his command of the game and the level of maturity he's shown at such a young age, it’s scary. Maddison has been unfortunate to not be selected more for England. Leicester haven’t been that good recently, but he’s been putting up great numbers from midfield. He’s one of England’s best technical players and he should feel slighted if he doesn’t make it. Although he’s not been playing great, Henderson offers those intangibles that make him a good player to have in Qatar. The last midfield spots go to Phillips and Ward-Prowse. The former’s place is in doubt due to a shoulder injury so someone else may end up replacing him. The latter would make my squad mostly because of his set-piece ability. I know I’ve picked TAA and Trippier but, from a dead-ball, there’s not many players better than Ward-Prowse.

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Attackers: Harry Kane (Spurs), Tammy Abraham (Roma), Raheem Sterling (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Marcus Rashford (United), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Jack Grealish (City)

I don’t need to explain why Kane and Sterling are dead certs for the England squad (we know who they are). I was tempted to put Saka in that category given his rise to prominence over the last few years. He was voted England’s player of the year in 2021/22 (although I think there was an element of sympathy with that vote), and he’s been a consistent performer for both Arsenal and England. Rashford is a tricky one. The main reason for taking him is he and Sterling are the only attackers that offer real pace. Sometimes in games where there’s space in behind, having Rashford as an option off the bench could be pivotal. If this was 12 months ago, I would have gone for Dominic Calvert-Lewin over Ivan Toney, but he’s been injured far too often for him to deserve a spot. You’ll notice that Jarrod Bowen and Jadon Sancho don’t make my squad. I like Bowen, I think he’s a tidy player. England just have better attackers. With Sancho, he’s another whose performances haven’t been good enough to merit a place.

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This Week’s Hot Take

As good as this generation of English players is, they aren’t better than the Golden Generation from 2001 to 2007. In terms of quality of depth, this current crop of players is better than those in the past. But that generation of players had some of the world’s best players at the position. Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Beckham, Terry, Ferdinand, Cole. I’ve not even got to the second tier of players who were still quality. There’s still a long way to go before that generation will be surpassed.