England World Cup Squad Confirmed

Tough call, if anyone gets all 23 correct you will win a rubber chicken.

GK: Butland, Pickford, Pope

DF: Walker, Trippier, Jones, Stones, Maguire, Cahill, Rose, Young

MF: Alli, Lingard, Henderson, Wilshere, Loftus-Cheek, Dier, Sterling, Sessegnon,

FW: Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Carroll

Gone for 9 midfielders and three attackers. There will be a glaring name I’ve missed but it’s hard to think of everyone doing this.

There’s always a wild card pick, so Sessegnon gets my pick.
 
When playing a 4-4-2 that made sense to take 2 players in every position. Now there really isn't a point to take 4 strikers for one position. I don't see the point in taking Carroll when we've got no one who can put a decent ball in to the box down the wings.

GK: Pope; Butland; Hart
DF: Walker; Trippier; Stones; Maguire; Mawson; Jones; Bertrand; Rose
Midfielders: Henderson; Dier; Milner; Lallana; Deli Alli; Wilshere
Wingers/Strikers: Sterling; Rashford; Lingard; Welbeck; Kane; Vardy

I'm sure i've missed someone blatantly obvious.

I think Hart will get in due to the fact he's been in every squad.

Starting 11:

Pope

Walker Stones Maguire Rose

Henderson Wilshere

Sterling Alli Rashford

Kane
 
Don't mess with my system @IDFD there was a reason I said pick it that way :p

If we play 3-5-2 you still need 4 strikers.
 
GK ~ Butland, Pickford, Pope
Defenders ~ Walker, Trippier, Stones, Maguire, Cahill, Smalling, Rose, Bertrand
Midfielders ~ Sterling, Lingard, Henderson, Dier, Livermore, Alli, Lallana, Loftus-Cheek
Attackers ~ Rashford, Vardy, Kane, Abraham

Quickly realised we've actually got very little to choose from struggled to name 23 fit English players.

Goalkeeper ~ I see no point in taking Hart for experience as he's only ever let us down at tournaments and he's not played enough this season.
Defence ~ Struggled with centre backs I probably wouldn't take Cahill if everyone was fit but we are really short of numbers and you can't trust Jones fitness.
Midfield ~ Wilshere hasn't played enough or even well enough to make it worth taking the gamble on his fitness and unless Milner is going to come out of retirement then we have to take Livermore. My injury gamble is Lallana I think if we can get him fit he's worth the risk.
Attackers ~ Again the 3 obvious ones pick themselves and don't see a point in taking a 3rd experienced centre forward so I'd take Abraham for some experience as he's had a better season than Solanke.

The one I feel deserves to go but probably won't is Alexander-Arnold I think he could go if Southgate takes Walker as a centre back but I think it's unlikely he'll take 2 RBs if he does that.
 
Don't mess with my system @IDFD there was a reason I said pick it that way :p

If we play 3-5-2 you still need 4 strikers.

Class Sterling and Lingard as midfielders then.

I just don’t think wingers can really be called midfielders now days as they’re part of a front 3 than a midfield 5 really
 
I don't really pay much attention to England to be honest, but when I see your squad picks it just shows how weak they are, especially in the midfield.

And if Carroll and Welbeck are serious options they aren't going far.

Vive la France :)
 
I’d be very surprised if Welbeck didn’t go.

Totally forgot about Welbeck I agree he should go as he's actually quite a decent player at international level he'd be my 4th attacker with Abraham missing out.
 
Be interesting to see what formation he goes with as he's been working on a back 3 but apart from Cahill none of our centre backs play in a back 3 at club level all the top clubs have dabbled in it in recent years but apart from Chelsea all are now back playing a back 4.

I kind of assume he will want to play the 3-5-2 against the teams who are clearly stronger than us but against Panama surely we've got to be playing 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 as there's no need for a back 3.

My prediction for the World Cup is Harry Maguire will in one game get caught on the ball trying to dribble his way out of trouble and cost us a goal.

I've genuinely had to google who's in our group for the World Cup.

In terms of expectations get out the group then I just want to see us have a go and try and beat whoever we get in the next round under Hodgson we were terrified of anyone who was any good and eventually they'd break us down and score I just hope Southgate tries to have a go at some of these teams and take them on. Go down fighting for a change.
 
GK: Butland, Pickford, Pope

DF: Walker, Trippier, Jones, Stones, Maguire, Cahill, Alexander-Arnold, Young

MF: Alli, Lingard, Henderson, Wilshere, Lallana, Dier, Sterling, Sessegnon,

FW: Kane, Vardy, Rashford, Welbeck
 
It’s a deserved dropping. He hasn’t been great for West Ham and hasn’t been in the team all the time.

Time has moved on and Butland, Pickford and Pope are better options going forward.
 
100% agree on Hart there is no logic to taking him and moving on has been long overdue he shouldn't have had another game after Iceland.

Another outsider who I think deserves a chance is Lascelles I know Tarkowski made the last squad but along with Lascelles I think both have been far more impressive this season than Keane, Maguire & Mawson who all seem to be ahead of them.
 
Yeah I like Lascelles, he’s been impressive for Newcastle this season after showing lots of early promise for Notts Forest.

Mawson is out of the World Cup through injury. Don’t think Keane has been good enough this season. But I can’t see Lascelles breaking into the squad and not sure Southgate will be up for bringing in some unknown quantities but you never know.

Apparently Wilshere has been left out of the squad according to BBC. I don’t agree with that at all, he has got over his injuries and think he was worth a place what with the other options we have in midfield.
 
Wilshire is worth a place. He's class.
Yeah for sure. He’s one of our only central midfielders with a bit of creativity.

Looks like our central midfield options could be Dier, Henderson, Livermore and Loftus-Cheek. How depressing.
Although this just a rumour at this stage. All will be revealed tomorrow.
 
Wilshere was class 4 years ago he’s not shown any consistent form in years and to get the best from him you have to set the team up for him as the centre piece you just can’t risk that with his injury record.

I agree he’s talented but so is Shelvey but can you trust him or Wilshere to give you consistent performances every 3 days?

There’s a reason Wilshere hasn’t been first choice at Arsenal despite being fit most of the season and it’s because he’s not the player he was and you can’t push him to hard because he breaks.

I really hope he gets left behind I’d rather we beg Milner to come out of retirement than gamble on Wilshere again.
 
Really? Got to vehemently disagree there. Sure he’s had his troubles over the years but I still would rather him in the squad than guys like Delph and Livermore who look like they’ll get spots. Hell I would take Shelvey over those two and also Henderson.

Our central midfield options are truly awful.

Another rumour is that Rose and Young will be the two left backs in the squad. Quite a turn around from Young who was in England exile for so long. Wouldn’t bet against him being first choice either.
 
When was Wilshere’s last good game for club or country? A real stand out performance. I don’t watch Arsenal often but when I’ve watched them and he’s been playing he looks a shadow of the player we saw breaking through but that was 6/7 years ago now.

I agree the talent levels are quite low in centre mid and centre defence but the guys who got us to the tournament should be the ones to go and Wilshere just hasn’t contributed anything in the last 2 years.

If he wants to play for England leave Arsenal get in someone’s team every week and earn your spot back.
 
England cannot carry passengers/risks. Midfield is weak without losing Wilshere after 1 game. Hart has been nowhere near good enough for a while to be in the England squad, only reason you'd take him is as an experienced squad member who contributes off the field, like Spain used to do with Reina. There's no standout but there are a number of keepers that are ahead of him, and some of those are in the Championship which shows just how far down the pecking order he has fallen. 2 of them are at Burnley!

Butland before injury last season would have been #1 but hasn't had a great season, he's the most physically imposing of the 3 likely keepers, Pickford is not the smallest, last few tournaments though small keepers have been stand outs like Ochoa and Ospina, it's perhaps not as important to have height as a keeper at the World Cup, Pickford's good with his feet and Southgate likes that. Pope has had a great season with Burnley and if he gets selected and gets a chance in the friendlies, he could move ahead of the pair. For me, he's been 3rd to De Gea and Ederson in the Prem this season. It's going to come down to who does best in the warm ups really, i'd imagine Southgate has an idea of his #1 and I think that's Pickford, i'm not convinced about him personally.

Midfield is gonna be a huge call for the squad. I think Shelvey needs to go with Ox and Wilshere out. He's been class for Newcastle in the 2nd half of the season. Jack Cork at Burnley has been another overlooked for too long in my opinion, he's good in possession and works his socks off, played every single Prem game this season and has rarely missed a game in 8 seasons either in the Championship or Prem. Lewis Cook is a talent and he's got a chance of going not just because he's a talent but also to give him experience of going to a tournament, England needs to improve it's options in midfield and they need to take one young talent whether that's Loftus-Cheek, Cook or someone else, Maitland-Niles looked the part in that game at Old Trafford the other week. Tom Davies at Everton is another, i've not seen much of him this season but I think they've all got more going for them than Wilshere who is unreliable not only for this World Cup but looking ahead to future tournaments and qualification campaigns too.
 
Confirmed Squad

Goalkeepers:
Butland, Pickford, Pope

Defenders: Walker, Trippier, Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Cahill, Jones, Maguire, Young, Rose

Midfielders: Dier, Delph, Henderson, Loftus-Cheek, Lingard, Alli, Sterling

Forwards: Kane, Rashford, Vardy, Welbeck

Standby: Heaton, Tarkowski, Lallana, Livermore, Cook
 
Doesn't look great does it, on paper.
Not looking great is kind.

I don’t necessarily blame Southgate though for the squad because it’s slim pickings out there. No idea why Delph is in there, he hasn’t played for City in midfield and we have more than enough cover at left back. That’s a real baffling call.

Personally I would have taken Smalling and Wilshere and left Cahill and Delph at home. And he may be an ex-United lad but Welbeck has been dreadful for Arsenal but he gets in because he has a decent record for England. Again though who would have taken his place? Carroll? Murray? Wilson? Not many options out there.

Anyone see that Leon Bailey teased on his insta that he may have been selected for England. Knew there was speculation he was eligible for us but still not entirely sure he is.
 
you could also say, Stones, Lingard, Rashford, Cahill aren't necessarily starters for their teams. Rose not played much nor loftus cheek.

Looking forward to see the French squad.
 
Not sure why he's taking 3 right backs surely the beauty of having Walker who could be playing in the back 3 is it frees up a spot somewhere else especially when Dier could drop in as a centre back if we get injuries/suspension. I guess he wants to avoid having to make multiple changes because he loses 1 player.

I think Bertrand i unlucky to lose out to Young as he's been in the squad for 2 years and not really put a foot wrong while Rose was injured and Young wasn't on the scene.

Livermore again is no thrills like Bertrand but unlucky to be ditched at the last minute as he's not done much wrong for Delph who's played all season as a left back.
 
My best guess at his Starting XI from that in a 3-4-3

Pickford

Walker Stones Jones

Trippier Henderson Dier Rose

Sterling Kane Alli

Can't really see how he makes a 3 man midfield work as he's only got holding mids and attacking mids he hasn't got that go between player which means you're asking Lingard, Alli, Delph or Loftus-Cheek do a job they're not comfortable with.

I'm pretty confident in 10 of those 11 players starting the first game assuming no injuries the only one I'm not 100% on is Jones, as that final back 3 spot I think is up for grabs. For me Cahill & Stones can only play as the central player in a back 3 Cahill has really struggled playing the left of the 3 this season for Chelsea and I don't think the others are good enough on the ball to play that position.
 
Worse squads have done well in tournaments (Costa Rica at last World Cup), and great squads have done really poor (see France 2002), England just need to overachieve for a change, been underachieving with good (not great squads) in the past, now they need to overachieve. This is where England is right now and they need to figure out a way to beat what's in front of them, being the underdog might also help if they come up against a good side. France, Brazil, Germany, Spain and others have better players but they're not unbeatable.
 
Must be the worst midfield England has ever put out at a WC.
It is indeed. Overall it’s a pretty defensive squad, 9 defenders picked plus Delph and Dier. Like jsp said I don’t think we needed 3 right backs with a few in the squad that can slot in defence.

I don’t think we are too bad in attack, we’ve got decent options but midfield is a worry. The fact that Milner was being touted as coming out of retirement to add to our midfield options speaks volumes because he’s bang average.
 

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