England’s left-back conundrum – A Three Lions position up for grabs

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Lewis Hall gets first call-up 

©TM/IMAGO

Throughout England’s highly lambasted run to the final of Euro 2024, one of the major conundrums was based around what former manager Gareth Southgate should have done at left-back. Kieran Trippier played the majority of the tournament there before Luke Shaw returned for the final, but with the naturally right-footed player on the left side of the Three Lions defence, imbalance was a consistent issue, and the left-hand side of England’s attack was nullified. And it’s been a persistent problem for some time now. Long gone are the days of knowing England had Ashley Cole, one of the world’s best, mastering the left-back position.

As illustrated in the graphic above, England have had four different left-backs as their main options in the past five major tournaments. Perhaps if Shaw had been lucky enough to endure a better injury record, he could have provided some of that consistency. But with just 12 league games played in the last two seasons, and now being at 29 years of age, the Manchester United man can’t exactly be relied upon. It’s sure to be one of the areas incoming manager Thomas Tuchel, who will assume his role as England boss in January, is going to be having the most headaches.

Since Lee Carsley took up the interim role back in August, he has played three different players at left-back in his four games in charge – none of which are naturally left-backs. In his opening match, centre-back Levi Colwill played there. In match two and three it was right-back Rico Lewis, and last time out it was right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold on the left side of defence. The Irishman will also take charge of the Three Lions last two Nations League fixtures against Greece and the Republic of Ireland during this November international break. This time, he has actually selected a natural left-back in the squad, and it could be a great opportunity for that man to stake his claim.

It still remains to be seen what formation Tuchel will adopt with England, and therefore what type of full-back he might prefer. During his successful spell with Chelsea, the German often played a 3-4-2-1, using wing-backs high and wide and very much as part of his team’s attack. More recently at Bayern Munich, Tuchel usually opted for a back four, often using Joshua Kimmich as an inverted right-back. He is a very tactically flexible manager, and has a few options when it comes to how he uses a left-back or left-wing back with the Three Lions.

Trippier has seen his place in the Newcastle starting XI this season largely taken by the young right-back Tino Livramento – he could now be losing his place in the England side to Lewis Hall. The 20-year-old has stamped his authority for the Magpies this season, playing all 11 Premier League games for Eddie Howe’s team thus far. He was rewarded with his first call-up to the national team, and it’s widely expected to be either Hall or Lewis to start England’s Nations League tie at left-back against Greece this Thursday.

Above, some of England’s options to compete against Hall for the left-back position are listed. Only three players (including Hall) are naturally left-backs. Whilst England have been blessed with talent on the right-hand-side of their defence, there is a real gap in the market for a top natural left-back, and because of the abundance of talented right-backs, there is always talk of one of those players switching sides – as we’ve seen in recent years. Kyle Walker, Alexander-Arnold and Reece James are all top level right-backs on there day. We have already seen Alexander-Arnold play LB for England, whilst James has played his last three appearances for Chelsea on the left-side of their defence.

Another potential options could be to play Colwill at LB, Alexander-Arnold at RB, and then form a back three in possession, with Alexander-Arnold inverting slightly into midfield. Colwill has already played their for England and has been utilised in that position for Chelsea too. If Tuchel were to opt for a back three, which many people think he may, then it could open up the option of using the plethora of talented wingers England boast in the wing-back position. Bukayo Saka could be utilised at left-wing-back, as he has previously played earlier on in his career for Arsenal. Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze could also be options in that role.

Shaw, who would probably be England’s first choice orthodox left-back if fit, is back in training with Man United. But the former Southampton man has had rotten luck with injuries, and will need to string together a strong run of games to prove his fitness and availability to Tuchel. Whilst England are bursting with talent in the forward areas, and have a fairly settled defence with the likes of John Stones, Jordan Pickford, and Walker stalwarts for the Three Lions, left-back is definitely an area of uncertainty. An opportunity to play for one of the strongest nations represents itself. Tuchel will be watching.