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Former Three Lions defender Rio Ferdinand has picked his starting eleven for England at the Euro 2020. Gareth Southgate will have a selection headache ahead of the tournament and might have to make several tough decisions when picking his final team.
The England manager has a plethora of talent in his squad. However, Ferdinand, who chose his first eleven for BT Sport, only selected players who are currently fit and available to play.
The former Manchester United defender selected Jordan Pickford in goal, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, John Stones, Harry Maguire, and Luke Shaw making up the back four.
The Liverpool right-back did not make it into Southgate’s recent World Cup qualifiers squad, but Ferdinand believes that Alexander-Arnold deserves a place in the team for his attacking prowess.
“I think Trent Alexander-Arnold has been the best right-back in the world for the last two years. I think he’s got enough credit in the bank to warrant playing. And for what he does from an attacking sense to feed them attacking players, he has to be in the team,” said Ferdinand.
The former England International selected Declan Rice alongside Phil Foden and Mason Mount in midfield, admitting that he only left out Jack Grealish because the Aston Villa man is injured. Injured Liverpool skipper Jordan Henderson was also missing from Ferdinand’s team.
“If it was, later on, Grealish is in there somewhere, I don’t know how I’d do it but he gets in that team. You can’t let Grealish not play for England, it’s like going to a tournament and not playing Gazza. Grealish is the one who can get the ball and take the ball 40 yards," said Ferdinand.
Ferdinand selected Harry Kane to lead the line, with Marcus Rashford and Raheem Sterling on either side of him, claiming that England have the firepower to scare every team in the tournament.
“Foden in that midfield area roaming with Mount to get on the ball, Rice just feeding them and just secure in front of the back four. And that front three, that’s scaring teams,” said Ferdinand.
England start their Euro 2020 campaign on June 13th
England will kick start their campaign against Croatia on June 13th. Gareth Southgate’s wards will next face Scotland five days later while their final group stage game will be against the Czech Republic on 22nd June. All their games are scheduled to be played at Wembley.
