Picking England's best starting lineup for Euro 2024 clash with Netherlands

For the third time in four tournaments under Gareth Southgate, England have made it through to a major tournament semi-final.

Despite that fact, the England manager still has plenty of doubters, with many questions marks still lingering over Southgate's tactical set-up heading into their crunch clash with the Netherlands at Signal Iduna Park.

In order to lend Southgate a hand, 90min's writers, editors and YouTube team have bandied together to give their picks for who start for England on Wednesday evening.

Toby Cudworth

England were better with three at the back against Switzerland, there's no doubt about it, but it really wasn't as wonderful as the half-time television analysis would have you believe. Still, they did enough to get through and that's ultimately all that matters.

Personnel changes at this stage should be kept to a minimum – though my mind is still telling me otherwise – but Luke Shaw has to come back in now that he's fit. Ezri Konsa will unfortunately have to be the one to miss out even though he played well. Vindaloo.

Sean Walsh

The system should stick, but the personnel still needs tweaking.

Bukayo Saka, though England’s best player against Switzerland down the right, is needed more down the left to bring width, at least until Luke Shaw can come on.

Marc Guehi’s had a fine tournament, but Ezri Konsa deserves to keep his place after a fine showing against Switzerland.

Tom Gott

If Luke Shaw can start, he must. England need the natural width his presence provides even if he isn't actually ready to make a major impact on the ball yet. Jude Bellingham can start to the left of Harry Kane, who starts almost purely because he's Harry Kane, with Cole Palmer deserving of a chance to start ahead of Phil Foden here.

At the back, Ezri Konsa does not deserve to be dropped, but Marc Guehi should reclaim his place in the starting lineup. John Stones' ball-playing abilities command that central centre-back spot, and while Kyle Walker's impact this summer has been minimal, there's no denying his pace makes him a vital asset at the back. 

Katie Catherall

England showed vast improvements against Switzerland and so because of that, I've made very slight changes to my team. Marc Guehi returns and so he's thrown back into my lineup. He's probably been the England player that has impressed me the most so far in this tournament, so he demands a place. 

I'm not losing my seat on the Trent Alexander-Arnold hype train so he stays in my squad in the same position as the quarter-finals. I actually think this formation would work well and allow us to play a bit more creative football. 

It remains unknown whether Luke Shaw will make a dramatic return to the starting lineup yet, after picking up some minutes last time out. 

Oh and also, goodbye Phil Foden, welcome Anthony Gordon. 

Megan Humphrey

I'm sticking with the team I wanted to see against Switzerland, only with Marc Guehi returning after his injury.

I still believe that Cole Palmer deserves a start after showing enough in brief cameos off the bench, with Jude Bellingham dropping into a number eight role instead.

Jamie Spencer

It’s stick or twist for Southgate. Keep the 3-4-2-1 system that delivered England’s best performance of the tournament in the previous round (still not brilliant), or revert to 4-2-3-1 to match up the Dutch shape. Ronald Koeman’s side have scored nine goals in five games compare to England’s five, so greater defensive solidity may be the way to go.

The calls for Harry Kane to suddenly be dropped are lunacy. Even off top form he’s scored two vitally important goals so far and has the ability to pop up with a decisive moment at any time. Ivan Toney and Ollie Watkins are best kept as impact subs.

Studio team

• 🤔 Is Luke Shaw fit enough to start at left-back?

• 👹 Kobbie Mainoo the perfect partner for Declan Rice

• 💥 Ezri Konza or Marc Guehi at left centre-back?

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 90min's studio team discussed the selection headache Gareth Southgate faces out in Germany - click here or above ^^^ to watch the video in full!

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