Gareth Southgate likely hasn\u2019t given much thought to England\u2019s full back positions in some time. On the right side of the defence, the Three Lions are stacked for quality with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kieran Trippier all among the best in Europe in their position. On the left side, England have Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw.<\/p>\n
Chilwell and Shaw have operated at the elite level – for club and country – for years. Until recently, they were considered among the best left backs in the Premier League. Of late, though, the landscape has shifted. Shaw is injured and a doubt to make England\u2019s Euro 2024 squad while Chilwell is struggling for form.<\/p>\n
The latter was highlighted by Chilwell\u2019s less-than-convincing performance against Brazil on Saturday. Up against one of the strongest attacks in the international game, he looked out of his depth and was withdrawn for Joe Gomez in the second half. Southgate is surely concerned about the Chelsea defender, even if he did his best to spin a line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Ben defended really well [against Brazil] and it was an important game for him,\u201d said Southgate before revealing it\u2019s \u201chighly unlikely\u201d Shaw will be fit enough to play a full campaign at this summer\u2019s European Championships. \u201cI don\u2019t want to kill Ben,\u201d continued Southgate, \u201cbut Luke\u2019s one of the best left-backs in world football, frankly.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Euro 2024 under three months away, left back has quickly become England\u2019s biggest problem position. If Shaw is unable to play a maximum of seven matches in Germany this summer, Southgate must look at alternative options because England seemingly can\u2019t rely on Chilwell right now.<\/p>\n
Gomez is a useful squad figure and can play on the left side of the defence, but the Liverpool defender is most comfortable in the centre of the backline. Gomez offers little going forward and has a tendency to come insider where England already have a lot of quality. They need an outlet down the left wing.<\/p>\n
Tino Livramento is believed to be on Southgate\u2019s radar, but the Newcastle United full back was omitted from the squad for the friendlies against Brazil and Belgium. That omission now looks to be a mistake. This week would have been a good opportunity for Southgate to get a closer look at Livramento within the England set-up.<\/p>\n
Not only would Livramento have been a good option at left back, he can play on the right side too where England are currently experiencing an injury crisis with Walker, James and Trippier all sidelined and unavailable at the moment. It\u2019s still possible Livramento could have a seat on the plane to Germany.<\/p>\n
Rico Lewis has been called up to the senior squad from England\u2019s Under-21s for Tuesday\u2019s match against Belgium and there\u2019s a chance the Manchester City youngster could be given an opportunity in one of the full back positions, whether that\u2019s on the left or right side. Lewis is capable of playing in a number of different positions, including in midfield.<\/p>\n
Tyrick Mitchell has two England caps to his name and has been a regular for Crystal Palace in the Premier League this season. He could be another option at left back, although the 24-year-old hasn\u2019t been in the national team picture for the last two years. Nonetheless, Mitchell would surely make a shortlist of emergency left back candidates.<\/p>\n
The ideal scenario for England is that Shaw recovers ahead of schedule and is able to play every minute of every match at Euro 2024 this summer, but this current international window has cast into focus the scale of the problem Southgate will have to solve if the Manchester United left back is sidelined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gareth Southgate likely hasn\u2019t given much thought to England\u2019s full back positions in some time. On the right side of the defence, the Three Lions are stacked for quality with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kieran Trippier all among the best in Europe in their position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":54847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[272],"class_list":["post-56298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-featurehome"],"yoast_head":"\n