Potter, Howe and Klopp’s England starting line-ups: Kane and Pickford dropped with White recalled
Graham Potter would reinstate Benjamin White, Eddie Howe would make it Newcastle 2.0 and one post-Southgate England manager option would drop Harry Kane.
After eight years, four tournaments and two finals, Southgate has stepped down as England manager following defeat to Spain at Euro 2024.
Who will be the next England manager? Five of the current favourites are out of work and one is the England U21s head coach. Howe is sitting pretty at the minute but the FA will need more than luck to extract him from Newcastle.
The point is that England do at least have options, and it is vaguely fun to imagine how they might react if given the opportunity to mould the country’s finest assortment of individual talents into something resembling a coherent team.
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Graham Potter
Most-used English players
Jamie Hopcutt (152 appearances for Ostersund)
Lewis Dunk (110 appearances for Brighton)
Adam Webster (93 appearances for Brighton)
Dan Burn (81 appearances for Brighton)
Solly March (80 appearances for Brighton)
Definite England starting line-up (3-4-2-1): Pickford; White, Stones, Guehi; Saka, Rice, Mainoo, Hall; Bellingham, Foden; Kane.
The temptation with these hypothetical starting line-ups is to just chuck in a load of players the manager in question has previously worked with. It is lazy, it is meaningless and it is mildly insulting to these elite coaches who would presumably relish the opportunity to work with a broader range of options instead of simply falling back on what they have tried before.
With that said, Potter would make it a point of urgency to end White’s self-imposed exile as part of a wonderful Arsenal-themed right side. Feels like he would persist with the other parts of that malfunctioning attack for a little longer too. And after giving Hall his Premier League break, he would call up the player most deserving of the next England debut.
Mauricio Pochettino
Most-used English players
Harry Kane (242 appearances for Tottenham)
Eric Dier (216 appearances for Tottenham)
Dele (194 appearances for Tottenham)
Danny Rose (150 appearances for Tottenham)
Harry Winks (115 appearances for Tottenham)
Definite England starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Shaw; Rice, Gallagher; Saka, Bellingham, Palmer; Kane.
No manager would have a greater inclination to simply get the band back together than Pochettino, who would happily adorn the above list of his most-used players with those in sixth and seventh – Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker – if he thought the watching English public was at all ready for it.
But that pair really must be ditched, easing the prospect of a Shaw reunion. Palmer kept Pochettino in gainful employment for a season at Chelsea and Foden must pay the price because Kane damn sure won’t.
Eddie Howe
Most-used English players
Steve Cook (302 appearances for Bournemouth)
Simon Francis (283 appearances for Bournemouth)
Callum Wilson (260 appearances for Bournemouth and Newcastle)
Charlie Daniels (233 appearances for Bournemouth)
Marc Pugh (232 appearances for Bournemouth)
Definite England starting line-up (4-3-3): Pickford; Livramento, Stones, Guehi, Hall; Mainoo, Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Gordon.
Then again, it would actually definitely be Howe who gets Jason Tindall to simply change the name of the WhatsApp group from ‘The Lads’ to ‘It’s Coming Home!’ as a way of notifying Dan Burn, Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy, Joe Willock, Jamaal Lascelles and Elliot Anderson of their first England call-ups.
But even Howe could not justify dropping Pickford for Nick Pope, instead settling for a sprinkling of Newcastle flavour from full-back debutants Livramento and Hall, as well as clamour king Gordon. The housery levels would be unprecedented from an England team.
Thomas Tuchel
Most-used English players
Mason Mount (87 games for Chelsea)
Reece James (74 games for Chelsea)
Callum Hudson-Odoi (46 games for Chelsea)
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (46 games for Chelsea)
Harry Kane (45 games for Bayern Munich)
Definite England starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Pickford; James, Stones, Guehi, Shaw; Rice, Mainoo; Saka, Bellingham, Mount; Kane.
Henry Winter warned Tuchel that he ‘had better not mess Mount around’ at Chelsea and the German wisely listened; that pressure would only ramp up with England and he would need players he can absolutely trust.
That is how James sneaks in at right-back to keep Alexander-Arnold out again, with a quarter-fit Kane obviously leading the line.
Lee Carsley
Most-used English players
Ed Francis (31 appearances for Manchester City U18s)
Phil Foden (29 appearances for Manchester City U18s)
Luke Bolton (29 appearances for Manchester City U18s)
Taylor Harwood-Bellis (24 appearances for Manchester City U18s, England U20s and England U21s)
Jadon Sancho (20 appearances for Manchester City U18s)
Harvey Elliott (20 appearances for England U21s)
Definite England starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Trafford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Branthwaite, Shaw; Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Palmer, Foden; Gordon.
The only way to avoid those inevitable accusations of being Southgate-lite would be to press the nuclear button: out go the most tenured players of the previous regime and in come some of those with whom Carsley has already tasted U21s tournament success, including Gordon as the false nine instead of Kane as, well, [insert awkward false nine joke here].
MORE ON SOUTHGATE’S RESIGNATION
👉 Predicting the next ten England debutants under Southgate replacement ahead of 2026 World Cup
👉 England star ‘lost it’ at Southgate during hidden second-half touchline exchange in Euro 2024 final
👉 England ‘not a happy camp’ after Gareth Southgate ‘deeply upset’ Man City star
👉 Southgate out, England starter must never play again, Kane abysmal, Rice poor in Euro 2024 final
Jurgen Klopp
Most-used English players
James Milner (323 appearances for Liverpool)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (310 appearances for Liverpool)
Jordan Henderson (304 appearances for Liverpool)
Joe Gomez (217 appearances for Liverpool)
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (146 appearances for Liverpool)
Definite England starting line-up (4-3-3): Pickford; Alexander-Arnold, Stones, Guehi, Gomez; Mainoo, Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Gordon.
It truly is the only way Alexander-Arnold will ever establish himself in the England side. The appointment of Klopp would be great news for Gomez, too, and very possibly Henderson. But realistically that midfield picks itself and it is difficult to think of a more ideal Klopp forward than Gordon.
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