The Pure England B XI 2025

So. I've been pretty much a day one listener, but recently I've been unwell (wisdom tooth infection - genuinely for my sins) and have responded in the only reasonable way: re-listening to the entire pod archive from the very beginning. In the 15 Oct 2020 episode "International Football" they pick an England B xi, which is both very good but also now - inevitably - dated. Names in bold are the final selection (best as I can make out. God knows if Demarai Gray really made it in frankly).

Marcus Bettinelli Karl Darlow Aaron Ramsdale Tom Heaton Freddie Woodman

Kyle Walker-Peters Callum Chambers George Baldock James Justin

Joe Bryan Ryan Sessegnon Matt Targett

Ben Mee Lewis Dunk Rob Holding Mason Holgate Adam Webster Ezri Konsa
Dan Burn

Mark Noble (c) Ainsley Maitland-Niles Ross Barkley Ruben Loftus-Cheek James Ward-Prowse Hamza Choudhury Lewis Cook

Demarai Gray Dwight McNeil Nathan Redmond

Todd Cantwell James Maddison Tom Davies

Jarrod Bowen Callum Hudson-Odoi Ollie Watkins Callum Wilson Tammy Abraham Che Adams

So I find myself thinking: what is the answer four and a half years on???

First of all, the pod's insistence on 3 up front is absurd, but I'm also not doing a fantasy 3-4-2-1 to fit in with Tuchel's hypothetical system, so this is a nice normal 4-2-3-1. Deal with it.

I think Dean Henderson is the only plausible shout in goal, so we'll stick him there and have nothing more said about it.

Axel Tuanzebe plays for DRC which is a shame for this as he is pure England B. We can make up for this with on the left side by giving the nod to Leif Davis. Right-backs aren't fertile ground right now I reckon so maybe we could go with a little Championship foraging. As a Norwich fan I will have a word for Kellen Fisher, but Leeds' Jayden Bogle feels most logical. We can also call up CJ Egan-Riley as cover for basically everywhere. Absolute cast iron England B second substitute.

In the original episode, they say that you should have a veteran (Ben Mee) showing a youngster the ropes, but then immediately go back on that by picking Lewis Dunk alongside him. Now the circle of life has turned; I think Dunk should be our veteran and he can partner Jarrad Branthwaite in his journey to stardom / 23 senior England caps.

Moving forward, I think you can have one - but only one - absolute under-21 superstar, and I think that man for us should be Kobbie Mainoo. Angel Gomes has played for every single England team (tick) and was subject of an international tug of war (tick tick tick), so not a doubt in my mind that he should be anchoring the midfield.

I confess that I've never knowingly watched West Brom's Tom Fellows but he's the highest assister in the Championship and I think England B should 10000% do recency bias. Because I think England B should 10000% do recency bias there's also a need for Forest representation. Think MGW is too close to England Actual so Elliott Anderson it is through the middle. On his left, Eberechi Eze, obviously.

Finally, I want my striker to be a bit of a redemption narrative. Danny Ings is on the table, Callum Wilson stays in the conversation, but ultimately for me the most England B player of the last fifteen years is and always will be Danny Welbeck.

So my 2025 England B team IS

D. Henderson; J. Bogle - L. Dunk (c) - J. Branthwaite - L. Davis; A. Gomes - K. Mainoo; T. Fellows - E. Anderson - E. Eze; D. Welbeck

THOUGHTS?