Five players to kick out of the England squad for Euro 2028 after World Cup failure | OneFootball

Another international tournament and another England disappointment but the good news is it’s now just under two years until Euro 2028.

A tournament hosted by the home nations seems like a now-or-never moment for England to win a trophy and so who should be on the (domestic) plane?

Considering all five of our suggestions last time got the boot, here’s the five players we want dropped before now and kickoff in two years’ time.

And here are the players we should build around.

Jordan Henderson

Other than vibes, what is it that Jordan Henderson brings to the England team? The role of cheerleader has been successfully utilised by teams before but usually it is the third-choice goalkeeper and not a spot that could be given to someone who could actually make a difference.

At this World Cup, you can successfully argue that Phil Foden, Cole Palmer or Adam Wharton would all have had more of an impact. Expand it beyond the midfield and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Lewis Hall could also have taken the Brentford player’s spot.

This isn’t club football where you can have some ‘good for the dressing room’ players that might feature in the League Cup. World Cup games are limited to a maximum of eight and you need every one of your 23 outfield players to have a purpose. Henderson’s only purpose was to make the others feel better about themselves and he even failed to do that as he spent a few days in a hospital bed getting surgery on a broken wrist.

The Henderson safety net was presumed to be discarded with the departure of Gareth Southgate but Tuchel inexplicably decided to keep him around. Henderson will be on the verge of 38 come the next tournament so surely now it is time to get rid and actually pick players who can make a difference?

Noni Madueke

Whatever the answer to England’s right-wing problem, it is not Noni Madueke.

The Norway game summed up everything that is wrong with the Arsenal winger: he is far too wasteful.

Attacking play after attacking play died once the ball reached his feet and it was telling that Tuchel preferred to shift Morgan Rogers out to the right against Argentina rather than play Madueke.

Madueke is also disadvantaged by two promising English youngsters coming through in the form of Rio Ngumoha and Max Dowman. Both of them, while still teenagers, have shown an ability and willingness to run past defenders that Madueke has not.

There’s every chance that Dowman moves ahead of Madueke in the Arsenal pecking order this season which would be the nail in the coffin for the latter’s England career.

Dan Burn

He may have become the nation’s favourite giant but if we strip away the romanticism, Dan Burn is not a top-level defender is he?

If Dan Burn is the answer, should you even be asking the question?

His main strength is his height and he himself admitted that he would only be needed if England were up against it. Spain, France or Argentina don’t have that in their squad and they seem to be doing just fine.

He’ll be 36 by Euro 2028 and almost certainly not playing for Newcastle or any top-level club by then.

We’d fancy he’d make a great pundit so expect to see him towering over Gary Neville in the ITV studio.

Ivan Toney

Unless England are planning to drag every game to penalties, what is the point of having Ivan Toney in the squad?

The former Brentford player was the beneficiary of a rather lacklustre array of options behind Harry Kane and while he may have scored 32 goals in 32 games in the Saudi league, that comes with the caveat that it is the Saudi league.

With everyone is fit, Toney does not have a place in the England team and only got a handful of minutes against Argentina in this summer’s tournament. It would be far more beneficial to take a youth prospect or a Danny Welbeck type who is scoring goals in a top league next time round.

John Stones

On his day, Stones is probably England’s best defender, but those days will get fewer and fewer as he gets older.

Even in his prime, Stones was never too many games away from an injury and Manchester City’s decision to let him leave on a free suggests they recognise that the now 32-year-old will be unavailable more times than he is available.

England also have a good crop of centre backs coming through. Marc Guehi is 26, Jarrad Branthwaite is 24, Levi Colwill is 23, Ezri Konsa is a little older at 28.

Stones has been a good servant for England but it’s time to say thank you and goodbye.