Assessing England’s Euro 2024 defenders: Problems at left-back, does Maguire still deserve to start?

This is a four-part series examining the selection decisions Gareth Southgate has before this summer’s European Championship. England’s goalkeepers have already been assessed. Now, the defenders.

Profiles. We need to talk about profiles.

Defence, particularly centre-back, has been the most debated area of many of Gareth Southgate’s England squads. Counter-arguments against Southgate’s consistent selection, particularly of Harry Maguire, often focus too closely on form and overlook the importance of profiles and skill sets.

Recent European Championships have been won through strong centre-back partnerships, with two figures who complemented each other.

Left-footed Giorgio Chiellini and right-footed Leonardo Bonucci, who played together 63 times for Italy, were Roberto Mancini’s pairing at Euro 2020. Italy won the tournament by beating England in the final. Mancini described them as the “best centre-back partnership in world football”.

During that tournament, Bonucci said their strength was that they knew “each other’s game inside out”.

“It comes very naturally”, he continued. “You don’t have to think about the other things you normally would when playing with someone else. We can share the workload and it allows us to both be leaders — that is critical.”

Portugal won Euro 2016 with Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho as their centre-backs in the group stage, then switched to Jose Fonte and Pepe in the knockouts. Spain won consecutive European Championships in 2008 and 2012. In 2008, Carles Puyol and Carlos Marchena played together in five of six matches, only missing the final group-stage game when Spain rotated their team. In 2012, Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique were the pairing in all six games.

These partnerships underpinned successful defences. Spain did not concede a knockout goal at Euro 2008 and only conceded once all tournament in 2012. Portugal had an underwhelming group stage in 2016, drawing all three games, but only conceded once in their four knockout games. Italy did not concede in the group stages at Euro 2020 and never conceded more than once in a knockout game.

Maguire and John Stones were England’s partnership at Euro 2020, as they were at the World Cups in 2018 and 2022. Maguire entered the last Euros injured — Tyrone Mings played left centre-back in the opening two games. England conceded just two goals that tournament, none from open play.

Maguire, a touch-tight, front-footed centre-back, is England’s best at defending his box, and likes to progress play through dribbles and big diagonal passes. Part of that is his predisposition as a right-footer operating on the left, making it a less natural fit to play passes through the lines. Stones’ play is cuter, more of an interceptor than a tackler, and with more incisive passing along the floor.

“We’ve got other players who are playing well and we’ve got to balance all of that when picking our team,” said Southgate before the 2022 World Cup. He picked Maguire, despite him not being part of Erik ten Hag’s plans at Manchester United.

“He’s one of our best centre-backs,” said Southgate on Maguire. “Within the squad, we’ve got a lot of players that have been to tournaments, have performed at that level, and know what’s required. We’ve picked our more experienced defenders.” Maguire’s World Cup performances vindicated his selection.

England have started Maguire and Stones in 16 of 19 games at the last three major tournaments and have conceded less than a goal per game (0.68). On the table below, an asterisk indicates where England played a back three, when Southgate used Kyle Walker as an extra central defender.

“We’ve had so many games together, we’ve made a bond and a partnership together,” said Stones about Maguire before the World Cup. “We know what the other person is going to do and how we work best together”.

Maguire, Stones and Walker have been ever-presents in England squads at major tournaments in the Southgate era, as have Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold (the latter was named in England’s Euro 2020 squad but missed the tournament through injury).

Unlike the past two tournaments, Euro 2024 squads are limited to 23 players, down from 26. Also consider that England drew Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia for Euro 2024, teams against whom they should be expected to dominate possession. Ball-playing defenders, who can defend in the opposition half and be aerial threats in both boxes, are essential.

Southgate has said that “if you can only take two for each position, players that are adaptable are helpful”, and this applies particularly to defenders. Maguire can play either centre-back role, even if his right-foot bias as a left-sided centre-back can cause problems in the build-up. Trippier has played full-back on both sides.

Luke Shaw celebrates his goal in the Euro 2020 final (Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Offside via Getty Images)

Southgate has taken nine or 10 defenders to previous major tournaments. He likes left-backs who can overlap and cross, which suits attack-minded Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell. Shaw’s injury-hit season makes him, in Southgate’s words, “physically vulnerable”, the sort of selection “we will have to think very carefully about”. Chilwell is no stranger to the treatment room, either. It seems inconceivable that both will be named in Southgate’s squad.

Newcastle United’s Tino Livramento could be the ideal alternative. Nominally a right-back, he has played full-back on both sides this season, including in the Champions League, and has nine under-21 caps. A Chelsea academy graduate, Livramento stands out as a dueller and has the physical profile to get forward and recover. England have often looked one-dimensional with a right-footer at left-back, generally Trippier, but he would provide essential cover.

Arsenal’s Ben White can play right-back and right centre-back, as well as defensive midfield if needed. Southgate rates him highly, especially as his attacking profile is suitable. However, White, who left the 2022 World Cup mid-tournament, has asked not to be called up due to “personal reasons” — those are explained here. Instead, Liverpool’s Joe Gomez, who last played for England in 2020, has been recalled by Southgate. Gomez, too, is versatile, able at playing across the back-line, with Jurgen Klopp using him in both full-back slots this season. He is more defensive than White, a solid passer but particularly strong as a box defender. A form pick, but one that makes sense.

Southgate has a headache over backup options at left centre-back. In addition to Maguire, England have Lewis Dunk, Marc Guehi and Fikayo Tomori as right-footers who can play there. Tomori is a better one-v-one defender on the floor, but Dunk offers more of a physical presence and is superior in both boxes, even if he has less elite European experience. Guehi is the tidiest passer.

Southgate has used them all sparingly. Dunk’s age (32) makes him easier to exclude than Guehi (23) and Tomori (26), but, realistically, three cannot go into one. Chelsea’s Levi Colwill and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite, both 21 years old, are more useful options, though the former has had injury troubles this season.

Branthwaite, left, playing for England Under-21s (Matt McNulty – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)

“The younger ones have got some really good qualities,” said Southgate at the 2022 World Cup. “But we don’t think they’ve done quite enough to push the more experienced ones out. With the tournament we’re going into and the level of the matches, that had to be the pecking order,” he said.

That has clearly changed — Southgate has called up Branthwaite for the March internationals. “He has played consistently well,” said Southgate. “Jarrad is good with the ball, shows good composure, has a good mentality and he is a left-footer, which we don’t have many left-footed defenders.

“We watched him as a back-up centre-half for the Under-21 Euros. If you had said to me then that he would play as consistently well at Premier League level as he has, then I would have questioned that last summer.”

Branthwaite played back-up to Colwill in the squad that won last summer’s European Under-21 Championship without conceding. Colwill played five of the six matches, with Branthwaite’s only appearance coming as his replacement in the final group-stage game.

They are archetypal modern centre-backs — tall (Colwill is 6ft 2in/188cm, Branthwaite is 6ft 5in/196cm), left-footed and as adept at ball-playing as defending the box. Both boast impressive recovery pace and can defend one-v-one in the channels, as their high tackle success per cent shows on the graphic below.

Those skillsets are important given the role of the left centre-back, Maguire, in England’s later games at the 2022 World Cup. The team rotated from 4-3-3 to a 3-2-5 in build-up, pushing the left-back forward and tucking right-back Walker around to cover against the opposition’s left-winger — Kylian Mbappe and Ismaila Sarr against France and Senegal in the knockout rounds. This meant Maguire played wide a lot, which better suits a left-footer to play angled passes inside.

Southgate’s trust in Walker limits the space for Trippier and Alexander-Arnold. It has been a long-running joke that England could field a team of right-backs, with those two among the Premier League’s most creative players as elite crossers and set-piece takers. Alternatively, Alexander-Arnold could play a midfield role, either in the purest sense or in a hybrid setup. Southgate has said that he sees Alexander-Arnold as a No 8 as “he’s got qualities that are very different to all of our midfield players”.

Picking a defence is best done according to the Johan Cruyff quote: “Choose the best player for every position, and you’ll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong ones.” Profiles matter. Complementary profiles matter even more. England’s defence has been one of the best in major tournaments under Southgate because they build partnerships so well. Southgate needs to stick with that principle and pick his depth options wisely.

(Top photos: Getty Images)