England Squad

They say you should play your best XI, so I look forward to our team of full backs and attacking midfielders/strikers winning the thing!

(Aaron Ramsdale? Christ)

Quoted from Abdul19

They say you should play your best XI, so I look forward to our team of full backs and attacking midfielders/strikers winning the thing!

(Aaron Ramsdale? Christ)

My money is on France though. Good strength in depth and in Mbappe arguably the tournaments best player.

Not too much wrong with the squad, it’s the bloke who picked it we need to worry about.

Mason Greenwood drops out, would he have made it anyway?

I think it’s easy to take a rather insular view of your own national team side when it comes to overemphasising both its strengths and weaknesses. There are other top teams who are undeniably better than us in some areas, and weaker in others. There are no perfect teams at this Euro’s.

I think it’s certainly reasonable to suggest that we are capable of putting out the best front three at this competition (assuming we play a front three). How many times have we been able to say that in the past? Any of Sterling, Rashford, Sancho or Foden either side of Kane looks pretty exciting to me.

I can’t think of many other teams more adept than us at full-back either - particularly right back. The fact we’re even debating whether recent Champions League and Premier League winner Trent Alexander-Arnold even makes the squad is testament to that. We’re going to be terrifying on the counter.

What about the rest of it? In goal I actually think that Henderson is a far superior keeper to Pickford, and I don’t think that’s just my GTFC bias clouding my judgement there. Still, I think Pickford will be the number one choice as he has tournament experience and Henderson still isn’t technically first choice at his club, so I can understand the thinking. For me, Pickford’s competent enough if he can steer clear of making silly errors.

I’d apply the same comments to the likes of Maguire and Stones at centre-half. Neither of them will ever be remembered as all time greats (unless we actually win the thing) but it shouldn’t be forgotten that one won the Premier League last season and the other finished second. There are better defenders at the tournament, no doubt but I also think they’re both a lot better than they generally get credit for.

Midfield is interesting, as it’s clearly an area we came unstuck in against Croatia in the 2018 WC semi-final. We didn’t have an answer to world class players like Rakitic and Modric and it showed. A lot for me rests on whether Henderson is fully fit; perhaps not the most exciting player in the world but he was a lynchpin in a brilliant Liverpool side that won the Champions League and Premier League in recent seasons - their form suffered massively this season whenever he wasn’t in the team (check out the PPG differences).

Without Henderson we’re lacking experienced options, particularly in that holding role. Assuming he makes it, adding in the likes of Mason Mount (who just won the Champions League) and Declan Rice doesn’t seem so shabby, whilst the likes of Foden and Grealish could both feature in attacking roles to add a bit of spark. We might be lacking someone of Kante or De Bryne’s ilk, but it looks like that will apply to everyone else but France, so that’s not necessarily anything to cry about.

It’s a dangerous thing to say, but I honestly think this is the best England squad going into a major tournament for some considerable time, possibly in my lifetime. I actually think we’ll peak in time for next year’s tainted World Cup in Qatar, but I think we should be considered as realistic contenders alongside the likes of France, Belgium and potentially Germany as a dark horse (never write of ze Germans).

The group stage will be crucial. Winning it means a route to the final with only one game away from Wembley, which still has an outside chance of being at capacity for some of those games. However, it also likely means facing one of France, Germany or Portugal in the second round. History shows we simply don’t beat top sides in knockout games at major tournaments - the only one I could even argue in my lifetime is Spain at Euro 96, and we were incredibly fortuitous to win that.

That’s the nut we have to crack. We are capable of beating anyone. Do we have the mentality to do so, however? I think that’s the big question.

We’ll find out soon enough...

France for me, their depth particularly up top is frightening

Quoted from Poojah

world class players like Modric .

For me the worlds best midfielder. Beautiful to watch when you see him  play for Real Madrid. Technique in excellence personified.

Attack and full-backs are good but if anything happens to Kane we're screwed. Midfield is OK if Rice and Henderson are fit. Central defence doesn't look too strong, John Stones is guaranteed to drop a clanger a some point.

As long as we score 5 in the first 30 minutes we will be OK. Any fewer and the opposition will just shut down the midfield and pressure the likes of Stone into errors. Slight exaggeration? Maybe.. We might get away with  it in the group but in the KO stages we have always looked one dimensional, vulnerable to runners through midfield and pretty clueless if the opposition has a coach with an IQ in double figures..

We'll end up going out in the last 16 to a Fernandes pen.