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England fans will walk away from Euro 2024 wondering what might have been. What if those late headers against Spain had gone in? What if they’d been a bit more adventurous throughout? What if they’d had an actual left-back available throughout the tournament?
Reaching the final has to be regarded as more of a success than a failure, but when you break it down player by player, there were very few who shone throughout, a couple who did, a lot who had their moments, and a couple who were just poor.
Here’s our marks out of ten for the Euro 2024 England squad.
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1. Jordan Pickford: 8
We can all think of England goalkeeper blunders at major tournaments, but Jordan Pickford gave us nothing of the sort out in Germany with a series of unflappable performances. The camera’s best friend was decisive in England’s penalty shootout victory over Switzerland, and kept his side in the game in the final when Spain ratcheted up the pressure in the second half.
Not exactly a Mary Earps-level tournament. But being error-free, saving what you should, being blameless on the ones you concede, and a penalty shootout contribution adds up to a good mark for the goalkeeper.
2. Kyle Walker: 5
Started the tournament dependably enough as England’s defence offered one of the only positives from their early performances. However, Walker did not do enough in his efforts to close down Xavi Simons’ strike in the semi-finals, and was poor throughout the final, allowing Nico Williams and Marc Cucurella far too much time and space to do their thing.
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That balances out to an average mark. In reality, it was far more up and down than the number on its own can portray.
3. John Stones: 7
Honestly? We barely noticed Stones one way or the other throughout the tournament. For a centre-forward, that’s a death knell – but for a centre-back, it’s more of a positive than anything.
Many will have wanted to see more on the ball from Stones, who of course has experience of operating in midfield for Manchester City, and we got that only sparingly at the Euros. But he was steady away and formed a good partnership with Marc Guehi, which is grand in our book.
4. Marc Guehi: 8
Our England player of the tournament. It’s especially delightful given that many felt he might end up being the weak link in the side having come into the summer with relatively little international experience.
We needn’t have worried: Guehi rightly received fulsome praise right from the very off and generally maintained that all the way to the end. It wasn’t flawless – that Slovakia goal springs to mind – but overall, an excellent way to set himself up for what could be a very long spell in that back line.
5. Ezri Konsa: 7
We didn’t see a lot of him – two brief appearances from the bench and a start against Switzerland with Guehi suspended – but the Aston Villa man didn’t put a foot wrong, which is all you can ask from a back-up centre-back. We’d have no issue with it if he started to play a more prominent role in future.
6. Kieran Trippier: 5
A qualified mediocre mark. He is simply not a left-back and so many of the issues he had were completely not his fault.
He wasn’t great either, though: we’re not sure his change of flanks does much to excuse his living in a near-perpetual state of offside, some of which were just outright stupid on his part. We’re also a bit surprised to learn he created more shooting chances for teammates than any other England player… as we don’t remember a single one of them.
7. Luke Shaw: 7
We had to wait for him. Still, Gareth Southgate’s gamble on his fitness was vindicated by some fine performances when he was finally able to join the side.
England instantly looked better each time Shaw came off the bench in the quarters and the semis, and he had Lamine Yamal firmly pocketed for most of the final, especially in the first half. Turns out playing a left-back at left-back works?
8. Eberechi Eze: 5
Yeah, fine. Memorable mostly for his bouncing shot/pass back into the box for Harry Kane to score the winner against Slovakia, Eze generally played at wing-back late on in games when Southgate needed a change of tack. Proved useful in that regard, without making a massive impact.
9. Trent Alexander-Arnold: 4
We understand giving Alexander-Arnold a go in midfield, a role he has performed impressively for England in the past… but Southgate should have abandoned the idea after the first game. Kobbie Mainoo was right there all along, Gareth.
The invective aimed at Alexander-Arnold was excessive, and he stuck it to his more fervent critics with that penalty against Switzerland. But we can’t particularly make a case that TAA was good, either, and can’t justify much more than a slightly sub-standard mark.
10. Conor Gallagher: 4
We don’t really get the fascination with Gallagher, to be honest. He’s alright, but again we must repeat: Kobbie Mainoo was right there, Gareth.
Gallagher feels like he’s there thanks to inertia and Southgate’s general preference for what he already knows over pure potential. It speaks volumes that when Gallagher did get his chance to start, against Slovenia, he was hooked after 45 minutes. We’ve nothing against him, honestly: we’re just not sure he solves any of the issues England had.
11. Kobbie Mainoo: 7
Kobbie Mainoo is RIGHT HERE, Gareth, and he was good. Not absolutely-at-his-best good, but far better than everyone else who auditioned to be Declan Rice’s partner.
The teenager’s best years are ahead of him, but his belated introduction to the side was the best change Southgate made in the whole tournament, lifting England’s midfield performances from woeful to passable. If that sounds damning with faint praise… well, it is. But that’s not Mainoo’s fault; he did what he could.
12. Declan Rice: 6
One of the marks we agonised over the most. For the most part, Rice was as good as you’d expect him to be off the ball.
On it, though… less so. One of the best and most influential midfielders in the Premier League for Arsenal, Rice was never quite able to wield the same powers in Germany.
There may well be systemic reasons behind that, and his lack of a consistent partner in the group stage definitely won’t have helped. But we can’t really justify a higher mark than this, especially after what could have been a costly error against the Netherlands in the semi.
13. Bukayo Saka: 6
Another of those players where the number alone doesn’t tell the whole story. At times, Saka looked borderline unplayable, at others we barely saw him.
He certainly had his moments, particularly his man-of-the-match display against Switzerland – we just didn’t see enough of it throughout the competition. As with others, a lot of that is not his fault, such is a winger’s curse in underwhelming sides.
14. Jude Bellingham: 6
His goal against Serbia effectively secured England’s passage to the knockouts on its own. We’ll always have that overhead kick against Slovakia, too, but that was to be the last of Bellingham’s sensational moments in the competition.
That feels like a very high expectation to put on any player… except for ones as exceptional as Bellingham. Unfortunately, although he was one of England’s better players, he did settle the partnerships we might have hoped for to get the best out of him.
Still the player for England to build around. We’re excited for more at the World Cup in a couple of years.
15. Phil Foden: 4
We flirted with a lower mark for a player who has never really looked at home in the England setup the way he does for Manchester City. Foden’s performance against the Netherlands ultimately stopped us from going into really dismal territory with our mark: because even if he didn’t find the net, he was instrumental in helping turn the momentum England’s way after going behind.
But… hmm. They’ve been trying with him for years now, more in hope than expectation. Is it time to give someone else a try to see if they fit the side better?
16. Cole Palmer: 7
And there’s the first person we’d call upon as a Foden alternative. We’ve gone on record as saying we feel Palmer’s performances in the group stage were overstated by pundits clamouring for him to succeed, and stand by that: but that doesn’t mean we think he was bad in those games.
But he really did come to life in the latter stages, providing a lovely pass for Ollie Watkins to score the winner in the semis and then bagging himself to equalise against Spain. Big future, clearly.
17. Harry Kane: 4
Like Foden, we thought about going lower, but he did score three goals to share the Golden Boot, after all. And we’re not even going to take anything away from the skipper for one of those being a penalty, given how brilliantly he struck it.
Still, Kane didn’t look quite right, especially as the tournament wore on. It was evident, even before Southgate confirmed it, that Kane was playing through a fitness issue.
We feel for Kane: that being the case, it’s not his fault he was picked, and not his fault that issue exacerbated the fact he was ill-suited to the otherwise-sensible counter-attacking approach England especially took in the final. But, again: we can only extend that forgiveness so far, and he wasn’t good.
18. Ollie Watkins: 6
Scored an absolutely brilliant goal to put England into the final, and adorably looked more stunned than anyone else that he had done so. As hugely significant as that contribution was, it’s hard to go any higher when he played so little and did absolutely nothing else of note. It really was a brilliant goal though, so he did his part.
19. Ivan Toney: 6
The striker made clear his frustration at his lack of minutes, but he particularly made them count against Slovakia, teeing up Kane to score the winner and then doing an excellent job helping England defend that lead through to the end of extra time. We would have liked to have seen more of him, to be honest.
Not rated: Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon. Didn’t play enough to judge.
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