There are a number of defenders who are guaranteed to make the plane for Qatar, regardless of form or ability. John Stones, Kieran Trippier and Harry Maguire will all be guaranteed a spot in Gareth Southgate’s squad, mainly due to their impressive club form (aside from Maguire) as well as their international form. Their ability to play in Southgate’s system is also a big feather in each man's cap, confirming their place in the squad.
The remainder of the English defenders are on the edge and could be left out of the 26-man squad that Southgate takes to the World Cup and few would be surprised. Many players have had an unplanned boost with Reece James and Ben Chilwell being ruled out of the squad, freeing up two previously guaranteed places on the plane to Qatar.
The Trent Alexander-Arnold Debate
Unfortunately for Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, there are arguably better options than him in the position that he plays. England have such an embarrassment of riches that Southgate often looks to play Trippier at left back often in order to fit in another right back to the starting XI.
There is no doubt that from a dead ball situation or an attacking, wing-back situation, Trent is by far the best option England have. Across 32 Premier League games last season, he scored twice and assisted 12 goals. This season, however, although he’s already recorded a goal, he’s yet to record any assists, despite Liverpool scoring 25 goals.
Alexander-Arnold has seemed to lack desire and passion this season, however. Against both Manchester United and Napoli, he’s switched off in key moments, leading to Liverpool conceding goals. Against United, he let his man go on a simple one-two and proceeded to walk towards the ball following this action. No pace, no urgency and consequently, a goal for United. More worrying was the second of Napoli’s four goals that were scored against Liverpool in the Champions League.
Trent completely switched off, was out of position and didn’t show defensive awareness to mark the free man (who went on to register the assist). We saw how, if Trent were to have marked the spare man on the edge and/or looked to rapidly close him down when the pass was made, the one-two wouldn’t have been completed with such ease and Liverpool may not have conceded a goal.
With all that being said, Southgate is likely to play a five-at-the-back system, with three centre-backs and two wing-backs. Kyle Walker is an appropriate option to play at right centre-back, which in turn (due to Walker’s recovery pace) would allow Trent to play far more attacking with little regard for defensive duties, especially in England’s group games. Iran, USA and Wales are unlikely to play on the front foot and therefore will look to hit England on the break. This works if Walker can maintain his fitness throughout the tournament. He’s missed the last nine club games with an injury.
England can expect a high percentage of possession throughout each group game and having Trent as the right wing-back option is the most logical choice. His crossing ability, ability to drift inside and play killer passes and vision to cut through the defence are all aspects that make him a valuable asset to Southgate.
Centre Backs
Southgate himself said, “I never pick on reputation, form has to come into it”. Now, we can’t blame him for going back on his word, managers often do. However, there are a number of centre-back options that Southgate has, all of which are enjoying varying levels of form. Stones is likely the first defensive name on the team sheet. He can carry the ball out of defence, is strong in the air and has plenty of experience at the top level.
The questions surround, however, who will partner Stones on either side. As eluded to earlier, Kyle Walker is a logical choice to play right centre-back. His recovery pace is phenomenal, he’s defensively aware and Southgate clearly favours Walker. He played him in the final as the right centre-back in a back three.
The left centre-back position is a lot more contentious, however. Harry Maguire, Fikayo Tomori and Conor Coady are all names that are on the potential list. Eric Dier has come back into the England squad due to impressive club form as has Marc Guehi.
Harry Maguire
The difficult thing is that Harry Maguire is the logical choice, however, due to a poor start to the season with Manchester United, he was dropped in favour of Raphael Varane. He does perform well for England, taking great pride in telling people that he made the Euro’s team of the year last year despite coming off an injury. His recovery pace is slow and his experience also isn’t great. He’s never actually won anything in his career, despite being Manchester United captain.
He isn’t terrible, however. He’s solid in the air and does look to carry the ball out from defence. He works much better in a three-man defence, instead of the traditional four-at-the-back system. He has a lot more protection to dribble out and not worry as much about losing possession due to the defensive cover.
Maguire will be on the plane, however, he won’t be match fit or sharp having been out with injury in recent times and only recently made his club return.
Fikayo Tomori
The fans' choice would likely be Fikayo Tomori. The AC Milan centre-back is a brilliant talent. He’s quick for a centre-back, strong in the air and has experience of winning things, with a Series A title under his belt from last season.
As per FBRef, he scores high in comparison to others in his position with regards to pressures. Tomori recorded 413 pressures last season. This is over 200 more than both Maguire and Dier. He also made a higher number of tackles and interceptions than Maguire, Dier and Stones with 149. He attempted more dribbles and was more successful than his centre-back rivals too.
He is inexperienced at the international level, however, and Southgate clearly doesn’t favour him. He’s made just three appearances since his debut in 2019 and was an unused substitute against Italy and didn’t make the squad against Germany in the recent Nations League games.
Tomori is a logical option to take to the World Cup, but knowing Southgate, he will leave him at home in favour of a more trusted, reliable choice.
Eric Dier
Eric Dier is another name that we will more than likely see on the team sheet when Southgate announces his 26 man squad. The Tottenham centre-back is used to playing in a five-at-the-back system under Antonio Conte this season and has performed well.
He broke back into the England squad after 18 months of not making Southgate’s squad. He’s on course to make his 50th England appearance if he is to make the World Cup and start in each group game, something we assume will happen.
Conor Coady
On paper, Coady shouldn’t really make the England squad. His club form has been okay, but nothing stand-out and there have certainly been players that have performed better than him in the same position (Dan Burn comes to mind).
Coady has played 13 of Everton’s 14 Premier League games this season, however, their form has been woeful. With that being said, defensively, they have been fairly strong, conceding just 14 goals, the fourth-lowest in the league.
Those in the know claim that Coady is a great personality to have around the dressing room and therefore it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the plane. He’s made 10 appearances for England, all under Southgate, so the manager is clearly a fan of his. He can effectively play in either a four or five-at-the-back system, showing his versatility and highlighting why he’ll likely make the squad.
Left Back
Unfortunately for Southgate and Ben Chilwell, the Chelsea left-back has been ruled out of the world cup with a hamstring injury which has been troubling him for a number of months. He would more than likely have been Southgate’s starting left back, however, it isn’t to be.
Luke Shaw has found form recently after a disappointing start to the season and will therefore make the England squad as the only logical left back who has any experience of playing with England at international tournaments. Having scored in the Euro’s final, Shaw will be looking to make a similar impact during the World Cup.
The second choice left back is where it gets tricky, however. As we said earlier, Trippier has been deployed as a left-back often throughout Southgate's reign in charge of England, however, has played right-back for Newcastle all season and done well.
The assumption is that Tripper will be taken as the left-back and a potential right-back option and be expected to play in both positions. There are other options, however, the drop-off in experience and talent is huge.
Ben White could go as a right-back option, a position he’s been playing at Arsenal all season and doing extremely well with Trippier being the starting left-back option. White can also play centre-back which makes him a good versatility option.
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