Euro 2024 will be well underway this time next year, and, should they qualify, England must ensure their defence is an asset rather than a weakness.
Gareth Southgate has been keen not to over-evolve his team during his seven years on the job — history shows that the teams who fare best in international football are those whose squads prioritise consistent selection over churn of players.
England’s defence has changed as little as any position during Southgate’s tenure. Here, Standard Sport assesses how it might shape up for Euro 2024.
Centre-back
The heart of defence has been the Three Lions’ weakest position since the end of Fabio Capello’s reign over a decade ago.
Southgate has made Harry Maguire and John Stones his undisputed favoured partnership, yet the England manager said this month that Maguire’s lack of game-time for Manchester United is becoming “concerning.”
“Inevitably, it’s not a situation that can continue forever”, Southgate said about picking Maguire for England duty when he is not playing regularly for his club.
“We’ve got — in Marc Guehi, Lewis Dunk, Tyrone Mings — players who are playing well without the same experiences of club European football or international football”, he added. “But we’ve got to keep searching for competition in that area of the pitch.”
Southgate is well aware England are lacking in centre-back depth. While he sees Stones and Maguire as England’s two best defenders, Chelsea’s Levi Colwill will surely come into favour over the next year after training with the seniors this week. Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi is already in the fold and started against Malta, while AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori is on the fringes.
Lewis Dunk was capped once in 2018 and it is a shame for the Brighton centre-back that he had to drop out of the current squad due to injury after a long-awaited recall. Tyrone Mings retains Southgate’s trust, while Ben White and Conor Coady are on the peripheries.
Stones and Maguire are surely the most likely pairing next summer, but Maguire knows he must be playing more.
Right-back
For years now, England have been the envy of the rest of the world in terms of depth and sheer quality at right-back.
That said, the younger options threatening to break into the senior squad have fallen away in recent years. Southgate’s favoured four in this position — Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier — are by a distance the country’s four best options, just as they have been for the last three years.
Walker and Trippier will remain squad members due to their immense tournament experience, but James is the most talented and well-balanced of the quartet. Providing he stays fit - and that is by no means a guarantee - and Chelsea do not slump again next season, he has a good chance of nailing down the starting berth in the next year.
Alexander-Arnold has never truly been trusted defensively by Southgate, but Jurgen Klopp’s recent usage of him in midfield is an intriging option. He failed to impress when Southgate tried him there against Andorra in September 2021, but excelled in midfield against Malta on Friday — capping his lung-busting display with a stellar goal from range. If England play a back five, he would surely be the best option at right wing-back, owing to his crossing ability.
Left-back
It is the position in defence where England have the fewest options, but not a position of concern for Southgate.
Both are exceptional full-backs who are more than capable of playing at left wing-back if England play a back five.
Other left-backs — such as Crystal Palace’s twice-capped Tyrick Mitchell — will struggle to make the pitch in an England shirt for as long as Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell are fit and firing. Shaw currently has the edge over Chilwell, at least in Southgate’s mind.
