GOAL's ideal England Euro 2024 squad: Kobbie Mainoo makes the cut, but Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish miss out

GOAL's selection: Jordan Pickford, Nick Pope, Aaron Ramsdale.

Jordan Pickford may have his doubters, but the Everton man has rarely let England down at big tournaments, and it should come as no surprise that all nine of our voters had him in their squads.

The battle for the back-up goalkeeper spots was more intense, but in the end it was two men who have barely played for a number of months who got the nod. Aaron Ramsdale's (five votes) demotion by Arsenal certainly doesn't seem to have done his standing any harm among our voters, while Nick Pope (four votes) also gets the nod despite having been out since December with a shoulder injury. The Newcastle man is scheduled to return in April, thus giving him just enough time to prove his fitness to Southgate ahead of the Euros.

GOAL's selection: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ben Chilwell, Luke Shaw, Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker.

Southgate has a wealth of full-back options to choose from this summer, but right now there is no shortage of uncertainty surrounding many of them due to concerns over both fitness and form.

Right-back has long been a position of enviable depth for England, and three specialists were selected by all nine GOAL voters, as Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold made the cut. All three currently have injury clouds hanging over them, however, and Southgate will hope they all recover in time to be in contention this summer.

The same can be said of Luke Shaw, who snuck into our squad with five votes, despite there being fears that he might not play again for Manchester United this season. Southgate has voiced his concern over the left-back's injury issues, but enough of our voters are confident Shaw can be involved in Germany.

Ben Chilwell, meanwhile, garnered six votes despite some indifferent performances for both Chelsea and England in recent months, with Shaw's long-term absence having perhaps played a part in that thinking.

It should also be remembered that both Trippier and Alexander-Arnold have shown positional versatility in the past, while Walker and Shaw can also play as part of a back-three if required. Certainly, having players who are comfortable in a variety of positions is crucial for any tournament squad.

GOAL's selection: Jarrad Branthwaite, Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire, John Stones.

Harry Maguire's place in the England hierarchy continues to be a topic for debate, and there were three of our voters who decided against selecting the Manchester United centre-back in their final squad. That wasn't enough, however, to keep him off our overall roster.

He is joined on there by John Stones, who received the maximum nine votes, as well as uncapped Everton youngster Jarrad Branthwaite, who has clearly done enough in the eyes of the five voters who picked him to leapfrog some of the more experienced options despite him having never played for his country.

That aforementioned versatility surely came into play, meanwhile, with the selection of Joe Gomez, who had been in the international wilderness for four years before being recalled by Southgate for the recent round of friendlies. Though nominally a centre-back, the Liverpool defender has excelled at both right and left-back this season, and thus could be a valuable asset this summer.

GOAL's selection: Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, James Maddison, Kobbie Mainoo, Declan Rice.

It should come as no surprise that both Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice both received the maximum nine votes from our team, with the midfield duo having developed into two of the best players in their respective roles in world football.

Slightly more surprising is that James Maddison was also named on every single one of our voters' squads, though the Tottenham man has been a regular around the squad since the 2022 World Cup and has been enjoying a fine debut campaign in north London.

Perhaps the most eye-catching selection of our whole squad, however, came in the shape of Kobbie Mainoo, who also received votes from all nine of our team. The Manchester United teenager only earned his first senior call-up just over a week ago, but his performances against Brazil and Belgium, coupled with his displays for Erik ten Hag's side since breaking into the United first team in November, were enough to convince all involved that he needs to be on the plane.

Chelsea's Conor Gallagher rounds out our midfield group, as he earned six votes having been one of the Blues' more consistent performers over the course of the campaign.

GOAL's selection: Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka.

Bukayo Saka has been nailed on as an England starter ever since breaking onto the international scene at Euro 2020, and it should come as no shock, then, that the Arsenal man was selected by each and every one of our voters. The same can be said of Phil Foden, who is enjoying the best season of his career at Manchester City and now looks destined to be a starter in Germany this summer.

Foden is not the only City academy graduate to make our cut, however, as Cole Palmer was picked by all-but one of our team following his brilliant debut campaign for Chelsea.

GOAL's selection: Harry Kane, Ivan Toney, Ollie Watkins.

Another unsurprising consensus pick, Harry Kane will head to the Euros in the form of his life after his record-setting season at Bayern Munich, but who would provide cover for the England captain this summer had been up for some debate.

Not in the eyes of our team, however, as only three out-and-out strikers, including Kane, were selected across the nine rosters, with all three earning enough votes to make it into our overall squad. Ollie Watkins (eight votes) has been a goal and assist machine for Aston Villa in 2023-24, while Ivan Toney's (five votes) form since returning from his betting ban in January has been strong enough to seemingly move him above Callum Wilson in the pecking order.

In total, 14 players who received votes were not selected by enough of our team to make it onto GOAL's ideal squad, with perhaps the most notable being Jordan Henderson, Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish.

Henderson's reputation has nosedived since he left Liverpool for the Saudi Pro League last summer, and though he has since left Al-Ettifaq to join Ajax, his performances have not impressed our writers enough to justify his selection.

Rashford and Grealish, meanwhile, have been on major comedowns after superb campaigns in 2022-23, and both now look set to have to fight for their places on the plane in the final weeks of the season, at least if our picks are anything to go by.

Unselected players: Jack Grealish, Marcus Rashford (both four votes); Jarrod Bowen, Marc Guehi, Ezri Konsa (three votes); Ross Barkley, Jack Butland, Levi Colwill, Jordan Henderson, Fikayo Tomori, James Trafford (two votes); Anthony Gordon, Sam Johnstone, Curtis Jones (one vote).

If everyone is fit, then the perceived wisdom is that eight of England's line-up for their opening game at the Euros against Serbia pick themselves. That was certainly reflected by our writers, as Pickford, Walker, Stones, Rice, Bellingham, Saka, Kane and Foden all received the maximum nine votes. That left three positions to fill: left-back, the second centre-back and third central midfielder.

In the end, Shaw won out in the left-back battle, as all five voters who put him in their squad also named him to their line-up to take on Serbia, while Maguire also claimed five votes in the centre-back stakes, as he narrowly beat out competition from Branthwaite (three votes).

In midfield, meanwhile, it came down to a fight between Mainoo and Alexander-Arnold, and though the United youngster is a more of a natural in the middle of the park, he lost out to Liverpool's adventurous full-back, as Alexander-Arnold picked up five votes.

Just how close GOAL's squad and line-up will be to Southgate's final selection remains to be seen, but it's clear that he has some tough calls to make between now and early June.

GOAL's XI (4-3-3): Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Alexander-Arnold, Rice, Bellingham; Saka, Kane, Foden.