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It might seem a little hard to believe, but it’s only 15 months since England’s stirring run to the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. That might be a short amount of time, but for Gareth Southgate’s side – who have played a total of 12 games since the tournament ended last July – a lot has changed.
The Three Lions have switched their formation from a 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3 setup, and while key players from the World Cup such as Harry Kane and Harry Maguire remain in Southgate’s first-choice XI, in general, today’s squad is almost unrecognisable from the 23 players who travelled to Russia last summer.
For the upcoming games against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, just 10 of that World Cup squad remain as part of the England set-up. John Stones, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fabian Delph are all injured while a handful – names like Jamie Vardy and Gary Cahill – have retired from international football.
Some of the others, though, have simply been jettisoned by Southgate. The likes of Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck have barely featured since the World Cup, but other key members of that squad have only recently been dropped, much to the surprise of their fans. And for the following 5 players, it could well be the case that their international careers are over.
#1 Kyle Walker
Manchester City right-back Kyle Walker was a key member of Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, as he moved from his usual spot as a full-back to play as a member of England’s three-man defence alongside Harry Maguire and John Stones.
When Southgate switched to a 4-3-3 formation last autumn for the UEFA Nations League, it seemed like Walker would be part of a three-way battle with Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold for the first-choice right-back position – but unfortunately for the veteran, it now appears that the battle is over – and has been lost.
Walker still seemed to have the favour of Southgate going into the Nations League finals this summer, with Trippier being dropped from the squad instead. But after a weak showing in England’s 3-1 loss to the Netherlands, with the Manchester City man making a number of mistakes, things changed during the last two Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.
Walker was left out of the squad, with Southgate’s explanation being that he wanted to try out his younger stars – Alexander-Arnold and Aaron Wan-Bissaka – in the right-back slot, as well as re-integrate the resurgent Trippier into the squad. But with those two games done, Walker has not been called back into the current squad, with Trippier and Alexander-Arnold being named instead.
Southgate hasn’t stated that this is the end of the road for Walker, but realistically, he’s 29 years old and while he clearly offers pace and power on the right side of the defence, it’s perhaps arguable now that Alexander-Arnold offers more going forward while Wan-Bissaka is perhaps a better defender. Walker has been a key man to the Three Lions for the best part of 4 years now – but to see him left out entirely going forward would not be surprising.
#2 Dele Alli
When he burst onto the scene at Tottenham Hotspur back in 2015 as a fresh-faced 19-year old and then scored a spectacular goal on his first start for England in a friendly against France, it felt like the sky was the limit for Dele Alli. For most fans, the Three Lions likely had a superstar to build their team around for the next decade.
That hasn’t quite happened, though. Alli’s England career started well enough despite his involvement in the disastrous Euro 2016 campaign, and he started all but two of England’s games in their 2018 World Cup, scoring their second goal in their quarter-final win over Sweden. Since then, though, things haven’t gone to plan. Hamstring injuries have been partially to blame, but the bigger issue has come with Alli’s best position on the pitch.
Alli tends to do his best work playing off a central striker – Harry Kane at Tottenham – and making late runs into the penalty box to score and create goals. He’s played in that “hole” before for England and was largely used in a similar way during the World Cup, but since then both England and Tottenham have switched formations and taken to using wide forwards to compliment the central striker instead.
For England, that’s left Alli competing with the likes of Ross Barkley, Mason Mount and James Maddison for a spot as the team’s creative hub, and despite all his talents that just isn’t his best position. With Tottenham also predominantly using wide forwards like Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura, Alli has essentially become the odd man out.
It came as no surprise then, when he was left out of Southgate’s most recent squad. At 23 years old, it’s probably unfair to state that his international career is over – but if England continue to use their current system, that could shockingly be the case. And if it is, there could be an argument that his amazing talents have been largely wasted by the Three Lions.
#3 Eric Dier
Another Tottenham star, Eric Dier burst onto the international scene in late 2015 and for a while at least, it felt like England had found the best holding midfielder that they’d been able to call upon in a long time. Dier might’ve been distrusted by some fans, but for the most part, his early years with England were successful; he scored key goals against Germany, Russia and Slovakia, and then famously scored the final penalty in England’s monumental shoot-out win over Colombia in last summer’s World Cup.
Since then, though, Dier has struggled for minutes for both club and country. He played extremely well in the Three Lions’ UEFA Nations League wins over Spain and Croatia last autumn, but overall his 2018/19 season was one heavily disrupted by injuries and illnesses, and overall he was only able to make 28 appearances for Tottenham – his lowest number since joining the club in 2014.
More worryingly for the midfielder, it feels like he’s gone from being a key member of Southgate’s squad – one of his leadership group – to a forgotten man, as he’s been left out of the current squad. It’s hardly surprising given he’s barely featured for Tottenham in 2019/20 thus far, but there are other issues, too.
Declan Rice has emerged as Southgate’s preferred option for the team’s holding midfield spot, and while Dier is more than capable of challenging Rice, there’s also the chance that Southgate chooses to move Jordan Henderson into the spot to allow a player like Dier’s Spurs teammate Harry Winks into the starting XI. Essentially, unless Dier can establish himself back in Tottenham’s first team, it’ll be hard for him to win his England spot back – and even then, it certainly won’t be easy.
#4 Jesse Lingard
Few England players emerged from the 2018 World Cup with as much credit as Jesse Lingard. The Manchester United attacker started in all but two of the Three Lions’ games at the tournament, and his streetwise style proved to be dangerous against all of England’s opponents. Lingard even scored the team’s best goal of the tournament with his long-range strike against Panama.
But while his England career has continued to flourish – Lingard scored goals against the USA and Croatia last autumn, and would’ve netted the winner in this summer’s Nations League semi-final against the Netherlands in a world without VAR – at club level, the midfielder appears to have hit a wall.
The statistics on Lingard are pretty damning; he hasn’t scored a goal or made an assist for the Red Devils since December 2018 despite essentially being an ever-present in their starting XI, and when he was selected in September’s England squad by Southgate for his strong performances in previous internationals, more than one eyebrow was raised.
For the upcoming fixtures though, Lingard has been left out, and considering the strong form of players such as Mason Mount and James Maddison – and others outside the squad who play in a similar position such as Jack Grealish and Todd Cantwell – it’s hard to see a way back for him unless his club form improves. At 27, he’s not as young as many people think, too – making matters even harder for him.
