What is England’s best XI? Should Gareth Southgate start Jack Grealish, Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold? | Football News

What is England’s best XI? Use our team selector to have your say!

Gareth Southgate rang the changes and fielded his most experienced side since taking the reigns at St George’s Park during the 1-1 draw with Germany on Tuesday after suffering a surprise 1-0 defeat to Hungary at the weekend.

The England manager faced familiar criticism for deploying a five-at-the back system against Hungary, who rank 40th in the FIFA World Rankings, before reverting to a 4-2-3-1 against Hansi Flick’s side.

Southgate has also tended to deploy Jack Grealish later on in games as an impact substitute, which proved effective against the Germans, but has raised questions about whether the Manchester City forward deserves a starting berth.

Jude Bellingham was arguably England’s top performer on Tuesday evening after replacing injured Kalvin Phillips in the 14th minute alongside regular starter Declan Rice and looks set to tussle with the Leeds star as a starter.

What about the full-backs? Trent Alexander-Arnold – widely regarded as one of world’s greatest full-backs – was deployed at wing-back against Hungary but appears to struggle adapting to England’s more reserved style.

In fact, there are selection dilemmas in almost every position – with the exception of Harry Kane, perhaps – and just four games are left to play until the World Cup kicks off in Qatar this November.

So, what is England’s strongest XI and which formation works best? You decide…

Kane’s delight at reaching 50 England goals

Kane converted the penalty calmly when there was little to be calm about as the clock ticked down.

The goal moves him clear of Sir Bobby Charlton on 50 goals for England, just three behind Wayne Rooney as his country’s record scorer of all-time.

Kane told Channel 4: “Really nice feeling [to score]. I had a couple of chances earlier, the first one was over the bar and Manuel Neuer made a good save for the second. We kept going and played our best football in the last half an hour. Good to get the goal and a shame not to nick it at the end.

“I love scoring goals, I have always loved it especially for my country. Whenever I can help the team, I am glad to do that.

“It is really important to show the mentality, 1-0 behind we showed good character to get back into the game and get a result. We are playing against a very good Germany side. We still have important matches, but the World Cup will be here before we know it.”

Southgate added on Kane: “I think rightly the fact he has scored 50 goals will be the centre part of the story, but his all round game and the way he led the line, pressing from the front was exceptional.

“His quality to drop deep makes us able to link the game and he gives us so many options when we had runners past him. There are little moments where he comes and takes the ball to relieve the pressure and you almost take them for granted, but it’s such an important part of the game.”