Five England players to build the team around for Euro 2028: Trent returns… | OneFootball

With the latest shot at the World Cup squandered, attention for the FA turns to the Euros in two years’ time and we’ve selected the five players the team should be built around.

Whether it is Thoams Tuchel in charge or another manager, England will want to end 62 years of hurt with a long-awaited trophy but the 2026 World Cup felt like the last chance saloon for a few of the long-term members of the squad. You can read about those here.

Here’s who England should then look to build their future around ahead of a home nations’ Euro 2028.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

We said it two years ago but how is the best English passer of the ball not even in the squad? Trent Alexander-Arnold seems like a player that would walk into most national teams and yet successive England managers have not found a way to best utilise him.

While his lack of defensive ability is often exaggerated, he makes up for it with his creativity and ability to place the ball wherever he wants. Would Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham not have benefited from whipped, accurate crosses onto their foreheads?

Even if he is not one of the top defenders in the world, Jurgen Klopp worked out a way to get the best out of him, so why couldn’t Southgate? Why can’t Tuchel? Having Reece James slot into midfield seems the perfect solution for he could cover the space left behind when Alexander-Arnold pushes forward.

Regardless of what solution the manager creates, having a player with that technical quality sat at home seems a bizarre move for an England side not blessed with creators. His absence was particularly noted against a tough-to-break-down Ghana team.

Finding a way to get Alexander-Arnold in the team should be a priority for whoever is in charge come the Euros.

Jude Bellingham

It’s an obvious one but Bellingham should remain England’s star for the next few tournaments.

Skill-wise, he may be pretty close to Morgan Rogers, but it is Bellingham’s ability to turn up in big moments that makes him the most valuable member of the England side, even more so than Kane.

In two years’ time he will be on the verge of 25 and so still not even at his peak, but England’s concern should be how to get the best out of him.

He has the Rooney quality of wanting to be involved all the time and so will run deep into his own half to defend, but his best season at Real Madrid came when he was playing as a 10 pushed high up the pitch.

England should look to free him of as much defensive responsibility as possible in order to get the best out of him, which is why he could even start as striker, given the lack of other obvious options.

Kane will be on the verge of 34 come the next tournament and the back-up strikers are hardly young either. Behind them, there is a concerning lack of talent coming off the conveyor belt unless someone makes a name for himself between now and 2028.

Pushing Bellingham higher up the pitch could get the best out of him and allow a player like Morgan Rogers to slot in behind.

Elliot Anderson

A star for both the now and the future. Anderson’s stock has been on the rise for a number of years now and this World Cup felt like proof he belongs at the top table.

A £120m move to Manchester City will see him playing with some of the best players on the planet, which will surely elevate his game, and it is fair to suggest he will be even better in two years’ time. Being at City and learning from Rodri will surely help Anderson’s game and if he gets experience of winning trophies and high-pressure matches, that will surely help England too.

Perhaps most pleasingly, unlike previous generations of England teams, they actually have midfielders who complement each other and the Anderson-Rice pairing looks likely to anchor teams for many tournaments to come.

Kobbie Mainoo

While Anderson and Rice may be the preferred options, it was evident from the Argentina game that you cannot play them both for every minute and not expect their performances to drop.

Rice looked shattered and while Adam Wharton was omitted from the squad entirely, Mainoo was puzzlingly left on the bench.

In the Argentina game, England were crying out for a player able to soak up pressure in midfield and give the team’s increasingly besieged defence a rest.

Mainoo still has a lot of room for improvement, not helped by his Ruben Amorim exile for half a season, but has those kind of qualities that England need when inevitably they come under the cosh.

Two more years of experience for the 21-year-old and you would expect him to be at a level ready to make a serious contribution to the England team.

Rio Ngumoha/Max Dowman

With the lack of a crystal ball, it is a toss-up at this stage of which teenage star out of Ngumoha or Max Dowman will truly flourish but England’s lack of right-wing options was exposed at this World Cup.

Bukayo Saka has not looked his very best for a long time while Noni Madueke will be lucky to make the squad again. Why not then put your faith in an exciting young talent?

The key is giving them a platform to shine while not making them believe the team’s success relies solely on them. Both of these players will still be teenagers come the next summer tournament and so should not be expected to drag the team to trophie,s but both have that young, fearless way of picking up the ball and driving at defenders.

If one or both of them start firing regularly in the Premier League, they will be deserving of a starting spot for the Euros.