Man Utd, Liverpool stars two of five England players Southgate replacement must build around

England have lost consecutive European Championship finals and questions are being asked, mainly of the manager.

Whether it is Gareth Southgate or someone else, here are the five players the England manager must build around ahead of the 2026 World Cup. We have five who should be discarded as well right here . Read that one after.

Five England players to build around for 2026 World Cup

Trent Alexander-Arnold
The lack of faith in Alexander-Arnold as a right-back due to his apparent defensive frailties is an insult to a world-class technician and competent defender when being forced to watch Kyle Walker being a very fast man who occasionally has massive brain-farts for England at Euro 2024.

The Manchester City defender is fine one-on-one and his recovery pace is arguably the best in the world, but defensively he let Gareth Southgate down in Germany; he played the Slovakian goalscorer onside in the last 16, couldn’t prevent Breel Embolo’s goal for Switzerland in the last eight and was nowhere to be seen when Nico Williams smashed in the opener in Sunday’s final. It is time to discard him, as we explain in more depth here .

It is time to move on from Walker and a more-than-capable player is waiting in the wings. Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold started England’s opening two Euro 2024 matches in midfield next to Declan Rice and looked uncomfortable, which is hardly his fault; it was a poorly-timed and ill-advised Southgate “experiment” that threw the player under the bus. Trent is a perfect inverted right-back but actually playing as a central midfielder is a different kettle of fish.

Gary Neville said it should be “illegal” for Alexander-Arnold not to be starting for England and he is not far off, especially when you see how disappointing Walker was. The Liverpool star is underrated defensively; he is far from elite in that aspect of his game but the perception of him as an accident waiting to happen is incredibly harsh. There is no way he would have been any worse than his Man City counterpart.

Outstanding on the ball, Alexander-Arnold is a world-class technician but also reliable and durable, making him a more capable player than Chelsea captain Reece James who, on his day, is one of the best right-backs in world football. Such a day is far too infrequent for Southgate or whoever replaces him to consider building around.

On a side note, Arsenal defender Benjamin White is another outstanding option at right-back and repairing that relationship should be a top priority for Southgate’s successor.

Jude Bellingham
The biggest benefit from a footballing perspective of joining Real Madrid is the glory, but with glory comes a demanding amount of football. That perhaps took its toll on Bellingham at Euro 2024, producing the occasional moment of magic but not on a consistent or reliable basis.

As long as he is in the Spanish capital, we might not see the same player for his country, and making sure we do is at least partly the responsibility of those in their ivory towers with no regard for player welfare. It’s getting quite ridiculous now.

Regardless, that is hardly an excuse to omit Bellingham as nearly every player at Euro 2024 had been run into the ground in their club campaign and he did still produce moments that carried England, netting the only goal against Serbia in the Three Lions’ opening fixture and of course that overhead kick against Slovakia in the last 16, saving his side from a moment worse than Iceland in 2016, which nobody thought was possible, especially with this group of players.

The lay-off to assist Cole Palmer in the final against Spain was another moment of brilliance and something you’d expect to see from a world-class striker or an Olivier Giroud, not one of your attacking midfielders. Having so much to your game and being as versatile and tactically astute as Bellingham makes him a diamond in the rough.

Bellingham is special and is England’s best player. That should not change for a long time unless there’s England’s very own Lamine Yamal – or Lamal as Lee Dixon likes to call him – waiting in the wings.

👉 Read next: Will Jude Bellingham win the 2024 Ballon d’Or?

Bukayo Saka
England’s current answer to Yamal is Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, who was consistent throughout this summer’s European Championship and like Bellingham, scored a crucial goal to keep England in the tournament, curling the ball onto the inside of Yann Sommer’s far post in the quarter-final with Switzerland.

Bellingham is versatile but Saka is a Swiss army knife. Ian Wright’s left-back claim was likely said without much thought but despite the criticism, it was hardly a completely ridiculous claim to make. It would limit England’s attack on the right but would have created balance on the other side. There are no other elite right-wingers in world football capable of doing that.

He has played here, there and everywhere for club and country. Saka is special; so, so special.

The Phil Foden v Bukayo Saka debate is a relentless one – mainly on social media – and both are players for England’s present and future, though one clearly outshone the other at Euro 2024. Hell, Foden was outshone by every England forward given proper minutes in Germany. Ivan Toney assisted against Slovakia and Ollie Watkins scored against the Netherlands, while Palmer scored a beauty in the final and assisted Watkins’ goal.

The English media don’t seem to like the narrative that Saka is better than Foden, constantly waxing lyrical about the latter’s 45 minutes influencing the Three Lions before fading away and being substituted off, while Saka quietly does his thing and often pops up with a crucial contribution.

Obviously the England manager should be prioritising getting the best out of Foden but from what we have seen in an England shirt from the PFA Footballer of the Year, it is clear that he is not yet that guy.

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Kobbie Mainoo
The final against Spain was far from easy for young Mainoo, who couldn’t really get a sniff competing against Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo and Martin Zubimendi. The harsh reality is that the Spain midfield is better coached, more experienced and simply superior to England’s.

Mainoo was not the only one given a tough time of things; Declan Rice was given the runaround and had a night to forget. It turns out there are levels to this game and the Arsenal star has some work to do. He is far from “useless” as Rafael van der Vaart claims , but Rodri is on a different stratosphere right now. That’s nothing to be ashamed of; he is the best defensive midfielder in the world.

It’s time for less slating and more praising. Mainoo is absolutely fantastic and what he is doing at 19 is not normal. He essentially saved Manchester United’s season by breaking into the team and any rare praise Erik ten Hag deserves should be centred around his nurturing of youth, bringing the best out of Mainoo and Garnacho like he did Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt at Ajax.

Rice is a player who will surely partner Mainoo in the England midfield for years to come, with your Archie Grays and Adam Whartons also hoping to stake a claim next season.

Cole Palmer
There has not been a more consistent England player under Southgate than Jordan Pickford and the fact he is so far ahead of every other goalkeeper makes him a shoo-in for the World Cup in two years’ time, but that’s a given. Let’s talk Cole Palmer instead.

Palmer was probably the Clamour king at these Euros and his current trajectory hints that anything other than starting at the next major tournament will bring a national uprising. He was dangerous every time he was brought on by Southgate, whose supposed weakness became one of the reasons England reached the final. Nobody contributed more in that aspect than Palmer or Ollie Watkins.

The Chelsea player of the year carried his domestic form into the European Championship, showing that his influence was not reserved for Mauricio Pochettino, which bodes well for Blues fans and for the next England manager, who needs to find a place for Palmer in their team.

👉 More: England news | Euro 2024 archives | Who will be the next England manager?