With friendlies against Brazil and Belgium out of the way, what have we learned about England's likely 23-man squad for the Euros. Adam Clery looks at all the players in contention and selects Southgate's likely squad.
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00:00All right, fine. Let's pick the England team. Right. Hello, everybody. Adam Cleary from
00:15442 here. And as you no doubt saw, this England side lined up against Brazil and got punished
00:20for being too open by the absolute masters of punishing you for being too open. And then
00:26this England side lined up against Belgium, threw two goals into their own net, but still
00:30created loads of chances and got out of there with a draw. But as you well know, they don't
00:35do these international friendlies because they're bored. They don't do them for a laugh.
00:39They do them because international managers have precious little time on the training
00:43ground to make their ideas work and to try things out. So every minute allocated to a
00:48player this close to a tournament possibly tells you that they may be going. So then
00:54the question is, can we take what we already know about this England side, its manager
00:58and its players, and then add what we've learned in the two most recent games and then work
01:02out precisely which players will be on the plane to Germany? And no, of course we can't.
01:09And I will not even try.
01:13Okay, so Gareth Southgate gets 23 players in this squad, and I think we'll all agree
01:24there are 10 individuals who are guaranteed absolute shoo-ins. And they are of course
01:29Harry Kane, because it's Harry Kane, of course he's going to go. He's the captain. Phil Foden,
01:34Bakayo Saka and Jude Bellingham. England's three most talented attacking players. Declan
01:38Rice, because obviously you're going to take Declan Rice. Kyle Walker, John Stones and
01:42Harry Maguire, because they have been the cornerstone of England's defensive setup for
01:46three tournaments now. You're not going to drop them. Jordan Pickford, because he's England's
01:50established number one. And if it's possible to be England's established number two, then
01:56Aaron Ramsdale is it. So him as well, I guess. And that leaves us with 13 other slots in
02:02this squad that you could make an argument for and against every single England player
02:07currently anywhere near the national team setup being included in. So let's go through all of
02:13those and work out who Gareth Southgate will take. And I do feel the need to do this disclaimer. Not
02:19who he should take, not who I would take, not who you would take, who he, the England manager will
02:26take. So we'll start off with the goalkeeping options, right? Sam Johnston was about as
02:31established a number three for England as it's possible to be, but his injury ruled him out not
02:36just of these games, but of the Premier League season entirely and almost certainly the whole
02:41Euro. So that third spot is definitely up for grabs. Now, James Trafford got the nod this time,
02:46and he's the obvious choice that he's come through the under 21s. He won the Euros with them the
02:49other summer. We did a little video on that. He's had a bad-ish season apparently, but he's still
02:54highly regarded. He could be the guy. But one small thing that I'd happen to notice, England
03:00played with the highest line they've probably ever played with against Brazil and partially against
03:05Belgium as well. There was one goalkeeper in English football who is just Mr. I play behind a
03:11high line. That's Nick Pope. Not going to make this video too stats heavy. None of us have got
03:15time for that. But if we look at his like average position and his defensive action position, and all
03:20of this, he is one of the leading goalkeepers in world football for sweeping up behind a back four.
03:25It's why Newcastle have missed him so much and why they're so good when he plays. He obviously
03:29couldn't be selected here because he's out with a long-term injury, but he will be back for the
03:32next round of friendlies. And I could see him getting the nod because of that. One thing to
03:38mention is that Dean Henderson doesn't get selected for England because he doesn't play for Crystal
03:42Palace. But Sam Johnston is now injured and can't play for Crystal Palace. So Dean Henderson may well
03:47play for Crystal Palace and then thus get to play for England as a result. I've given myself a
03:52headache talking like that and wording it, but it's a possibility. However, I think it'll be Nick
03:58Pope. Now moving on to the defence now, I'm going to start with the left backs because Luke Shaw
04:03absolutely would have been one of those players who was locked in and guaranteed to go if he was
04:08fit. But there are currently questions and indeed concerns over that. He's got a long-term injury.
04:14He's going to be back very near the end of this season. And Gareth Southgate has already said it's
04:18going to be really difficult for him as a result to play every single game if England are to go all
04:25the way. So he will go. I think we can all be pretty certain of that unless he has another injury
04:29setback, he will be in that squad. And normally for the other fullback position, you'd want someone
04:34who gives you something a little bit different, wouldn't you? Like maybe they're a little bit more
04:37attacking or a little bit more solid defensively. But if Luke Shaw is definitely the vibe in that
04:42position, but Luke Shaw probably can't play every game, then for the other position, you're gonna
04:47want England's number one Luke Shaw tribute act. And that, as bad as he was in those two friendlies,
04:54is definitely Ben Chilwell. And I think the most telling thing about his inclusion here was that he
04:59was really bad against Brazil, but still got another chance against Belgium. And to his credit,
05:03did play a lot better, was more involved in the link-up plays a little bit more solid defensively.
05:08So I don't think you would waste those two starts on a player unless you were definitely going to
05:13take them. So it's Shaw and Chilwell at left back. And as for the other right back slot, that will
05:18just be Kieran Trippier. Partially because he can play at left back if there are question marks over
05:23Luke Shaw, but also because Gareth Southgate just trusts him. He's an integral part of this squad.
05:28He never lets England down. He's good at set pieces. And more importantly, Rhys James is not going to
05:33be back in time for the tournament. Ben White has said he doesn't want to be selected. And those are
05:38all the options. So given that Maguire and Stones are absolute lock-ins, that gives us several other
05:43people who could be featuring as centre-backs. Now in these friendlies, the minutes obviously went to
05:48Lewis Dunk and Esri Konca and Joe Gomez. But Jared Brantway was also called up. Gareth Southgate
05:54understandably loves Mark Gay. And Levi Colwell would certainly have been in this squad if he was fit.
06:01And out of those six players, I think the two that Southgate is most likely to go with are Joe Gomez
06:07and Esri Konca, mostly because they give you so much coverage across that team. Like Konca is
06:13brilliant as a centre-back for Aston Villa, but he's also really good as a right back, both up and
06:17down that side of the pitch. And if Kieran Trippier is your alternative to Kyle Walker, then you can't
06:22really replace what Kyle Walker does if he's injured or suspended. And Konca, I thought, did a pretty
06:28good job of doing that when he came on against Brazil. Now, I don't believe that people should get
06:32called up to the national side because they deserve it, because I'm not five years old. But if anybody
06:38deserves it, that would be Joe Gomez. He's having a blinding season for Liverpool. I just personally
06:42seem to really like him. But more importantly, he gives you coverage at left back, centre-back, right
06:46back, and even in midfield. He is an international manager's wet dream. And just to quickly rattle
06:53through the others, it'll not be Tamori, because if Tamori was going to be involved, he would have been
06:57involved here, given the injuries. This current England setup just don't seem to rate him that highly.
07:01Lewis Dunk probably played himself out of a place, given the mistakes he made in both of those games.
07:06He's kind of there as coverage for Maguire, because he's a left-sided centre-back who can bring the
07:10ball out and play it around. But I think given that he's like, what, 31, 32, Levi Colwell can do that. So
07:15if anyone's going to get that nod, it'll be him. Mark Gaze injured until like mid-April. So really big
07:21ask for him to get back, get fit, get in a form and get into this squad when he's already so far down the
07:27pecking order. And who am I forgetting? Yes, Gerard Brantwaite. Sorry. Yeah, they obviously really like
07:31him and wanted to have a look at him, but he didn't get a single minute across these two friendlies. So
07:35there's just no way you would get him in the squad and not play him if you were thinking of taking him.
07:39So yeah, concert and Gomez for me, but it could possibly be Colwell, maybe. All right, into the
07:45midfield now, because no matter how England set up, whether it's a 4-3-3, like I would play, or a 4-2-3-1,
07:50they're going to have basically three players in this part of the pitch. So you're going to take six. Now
07:54Bellingham and Rice, they're definitely going to go, but I think had he been fit, there is no way Alexander
08:00Arnold wasn't involved in these friendlies. And the man himself told us in this very magazine interview
08:06and in this very video that I made with him, that was fun, that he is definitely a midfielder in this
08:12England squad, so you can count him amongst that number.
08:15Yeah, I think so. For England, I would say I'm now a midfielder.
08:20How does he fit into this system? How best do you use him? I don't currently know how that's going to work,
08:26but he's too good not to be involved. And the options he gives you during the tournament, if you do need to
08:31change it up, are brilliant. So he'll go. And after that, we again can look at the minutes. Like,
08:36Kobe Meunier was not selected for this squad, don't forget, but got called up from the under-21s to be
08:42had a look at and then came on as a sub, started and got man of the match. There is literally no point in
08:48doing any of that if he can't play his way into the team. And I think he's almost definitely played his way
08:55into the team. Too young, too inexperienced. I just I get all of the reasons why you don't take him, but he
09:00looks so at home at this level. And he is a profile of footballer that England do not have. So it'd be
09:07stupid not to include him, I think. So that leaves us with two slots. And in my opinion, it kind of comes down
09:14to these players here. Connor Gallagher, Jordan Henderson, James Madison, James Ward-Prouse, Calvin
09:20Phillips, and I think Curtis Jones should be in the conversation. Now I, me, a genius, would take Curtis
09:25Jones. I think he's one of England's best off the ball footballers ever, but he's currently injured. He
09:29couldn't play. And he's friendly. He's probably too far a leap to get him from not playing at all to into this
09:34squad. So let's discount him. Calvin Phillips has been running around East London having a shit with his
09:39trousers on for the last couple of games. So he's almost certainly out. Given the fact that a literal child got
09:43a call up here ahead of James Ward-Prouse, I think we can probably discount him too. And that leaves us in my
09:49eyes with Gallagher, Henderson, and James Madison. Now you could make the argument that Madison is probably
09:54looked at as more as one of these wide forwards. But when we get there, there's so few slots available and the
09:59players have got to fit in. I think you'll see him as part of this setup. Now in a sane world between these three
10:05players, it is Conor Gallagher and James Madison, and you put Jordan Henderson in a suit and give him that little
10:11ceremonial David Beckham role. But I personally think, and it looks like Gary Southgate thinks as well, that it's
10:16really important for this England side to have access to players of this particular profile. These are Conor
10:24Gallagher's off-the-ball stats that I showed in a previous video. Like he wasn't very good at this against Brazil,
10:30but he is supposed to be really good at this. Like you allow your Ricers, your Sackers, your Fodens, your
10:36Bellinghams to thrive if you can get somebody into this midfield who can do all this off-the-ball work. It's not
10:42going to be a popular decision, but there was a point in Jordan Henderson's career where he was like arguably
10:47one of, if not the, best player in the world's off-the-ball. Certainly there was part of that Liverpool system
10:53where he's making it all tick along. And if he's even like half the player he was then, then he's useful to have in
10:59the squad. And it's not who I would take personally, but I think he will take Henderson. And I think it will be
11:05Madison that misses out as a result. You just, look, you need balance in a midfield. And that is not how I would
11:12balance it, but I can't dispute that it is a way to balance it. So that's what I think will happen. Anyway, though, up
11:18to the fun end of the pitch, and we're rapidly running out of places here. You've got Saka, you've got Foden, that
11:23kind of leaves you with two extra wide attackers. And let's face it, Marcus Rashford will be one of those, which
11:30isn't a mad inclusion, I suppose. Like he never lets England down. He's putting some good performances for them.
11:35He's a goal threat. He can play through the middle. He's an established part of this squad. He'll almost certainly
11:40go. But the problem that then leaves you with is you've got one spot left with which to try and fit, see if I remember
11:46them all. Anthony Gordon, Jarrod Bowen, Cole Palmer, Ebrici Eze, Raheem Sterling, and Jack Grealish. That shows you
11:54A, how good the current crop of England players are, but B, how hard it is to take a 23-man squad to a tournament
12:00because you can make arguments for all of them. Like Gordon was great in his debut, and he seemed to be the one
12:04they were having the biggest look at, but Bowen also probably had the best performances. And Cole Palmer is the
12:10form player in the Premier League this year, but didn't even get on the pitch during those two friendlies. Eze, somebody
12:15to set up really like. Jack Grealish is probably the most established out of all of them in the squad. And if you're
12:20looking for contributions in an England shirt, Raheem Sterling wipes the floor with all of them. It should, I think, be
12:27Gordon. I've been watching him for Newcastle a lot this year. I think he offers so much in terms of work rate, off the
12:32ball, goal threat, crossing, everything. But I think it'll be Bowen because I don't think either of them are likely to
12:39start. And I think Bowen's way better as an impact. So like the running, he'll give you the directness, the in behind.
12:45That's a useful weapon to have in a squad. So I think it'll be him. And that leaves you with one player left to
12:51understudy Harry Kane. Now obviously Watkins started against Brazil and Tony started against Belgium, and that felt
12:58like they were each getting an audition. And on those criteria alone, you'd certainly say it's Ivan Tony who was
13:04edge to head because he had a way better game. They were both trying to link up with their teammates, but Tony was
13:09doing it a lot better. He got a goal, he won the penalty for it. It probably feels like it's him. But the mad thing is, the
13:16way they were both being asked to play suits Watkins a lot better. He didn't play that well and suited Tony a lot worse,
13:23but he did. I think this one could purely come down to form between now and the end of the season. If Watkins scores
13:29goal after goal after goal and racks up a load of assists and is undroppable, it'll be him. But likewise, if Tony just
13:35keeps doing what he's doing, it'll be Tony. So I think it'll be Tony. But who knows. And there is also Callum Wilson and
13:42Eddie Enchedia who've been involved with England lately and certainly wouldn't let anybody down. But they just, if you
13:47get to take two strikers effectively in this squad, they feel so far away from being that player that it's not even worth
13:54it. So yes, unless I have completely miscalculated while doing this video, I think that is the England 23 that Gareth
14:01Southgate will take to Germany. Now, like I said, is that the 23 he should take? Don't think so. Is it the 23 I would take?
14:08No, but it's the 23 he will. And yeah, that's it. Let me know what you think in the comments. Anybody who we've
14:16overlooked, if I missed somebody really obvious, I'll feel really stupid if I have to apologize in advance. And I don't
14:21know. Let's just do something fun. Drop your England 11 in the comments and we can have a nice little look at that
14:27because we've done it here on 442. It was a nice big article, but all the staff have gone through our squads and our 11.
14:32So go read the website. And also, if reading is your thing, you should subscribe to our newsletter, which we have now.
14:38And I was meant to have a nice fancy graphic for, but I don't. But the link is in the description. You get loads of cool
14:43stuff sent directly to you. So that's nice. Also buy the magazine. I'd say that every time, but it is genuinely amazing.
14:48And that interview I referenced with Trent Alexander-Arnold, that's in there as well. I'm floundering here. I'm all over the
14:54place. Follow me on Twitter at Adam Cleary C-L-E-R-Y and Instagram. And I think I probably had a Threads account and I've
14:59just joined TikTok. So just wherever you do stuff, I'm probably there lurking around somewhere. Anyway, that's it. That's all I've
15:07got. It was a really good international break, this. It was really, really good. But I want my Premier League back. I want my
15:15Premier League back. I want it back, really. I want it now, which is fine because it comes at the weekend. God, I'm tired.
15:22Goodbye.