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Revisiting the 2014 BBC prediction of England’s 2018 World Cup line-up

Somewhat surprise names from Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal were among players earmarked to be among England’s starting XI for the 2018 World Cup four years ago.

Just as night follows day, England getting knocked out of a major tournament leads to speculation about which young players are going to lead the Three Lions to glory four years later.

After England finished bottom of their group at the 2014 World Cup, BBC Sport asked four football writers to predict the starting XI for the 2018 tournament in Russia.

The Times’ Oliver Kay, The Guardian’s Daniel Taylor, The Daily Telegraph’s Henry Winter (now of the The Times), the Daily Mirror’s Martin Lipton (now of The Sun) and the BBC’s very own Phil McNulty looked into their crystal balls – and the results were, well…interesting.

We do have sympathy for the quintet – who all opted for a 4-3-3 formation – but the choice of Jack Rodwell really hasn’t aged well.

Goalkeeper

Joe Hart has largely been England’s first-choice goalkeeper post-2010 World Cup until recently but will miss the tournament in Russia after a difficult season on loan at West Ham.

Winter, Kay and McNulty all stuck with Hart following the 2014 World Cup, while Lipton opted for Jack Butland, who may have already established himself as the No.1 were it not for a couple of untimely injuries.

Taylor, meanwhile, went for Karl Darlow. We suspect that might have something to do with Taylor being a Nottingham Forest fan.

Defence

In the back four there were two unanimous choices: John Stones as one of the two centre-backs and Luke Shaw at left-back.

Stones seems like a sure bet to start having won the title with Manchester City, albeit having struggled somewhat in the second half of the season following injury. Shaw’s career since the last World Cup has been blighted by injury and a struggle to establish himself at Manchester United, with Danny Rose and team-mate Ashley Young travelling to Russia instead.

Glen Johnson had been England’s first-choice right-back in 2014, with Phil Jones used as an auxiliary back-up option during the tournament, though neither were expected to take up the position four years later.

Instead, Jon Flanagan was voted for by Winter and Taylor, while Calum Chambers had the backing of Lipton, Kay and McNulty. Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all options for Gareth Southgate this summer.

As the second centre-back Jones did at least make it into Kay’s side. Manchester United team-mate Chris Smalling, who has been outcast by Southgate after being deemed not good enough on the ball, was chosen by McNulty and Taylor.

Despite mainly been chosen at right-back, Chambers was selected in the centre by Winter, while Gary Cahill only got the nod from Lipton.

Midfield

Wilshere was one unanimous pick among the journalists, but the Arsenal midfielder will miss out this summer despite re-establishing himself at the Emirates this season.

Ross Barkley is also another player to make it in all five teams, although Winter and Lipton choose the former Everton man in their forward lines – 131 minutes of Premier League football this season means he will not be present in Russia.

Jordan Henderson is chosen by four writers, with only Winter leaving the Liverpool captain out of his side. Henderson may not be the most popular player among fans but he has been a regular for England in recent years and will be one of the senior members of the squad this summer.

Winter does pick Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in midfield, while the Liverpool player is chosen as a forward by Taylor. The Ox appeared a shoo-in after an impressive campaign at Anfield, only for injury to cruelly rob him of his chance.

Two choices which have not aged well are Winter’s selection of Jack Rodwell and Lipton taking a punt on Josh Onomah. Yeah, not happening, are they?

Forwards

Two players earn selection in all five sides: Raheem Sterling, who was won of England’s brightest players four years ago, and Daniel Sturridge. Sterling has enjoyed the best season of his career and is likely to start in Southgate’s XI. Sturridge, however, struggled for first-team football at Liverpool and was injured yet again on loan at West Brom.

As previously mentioned, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Barkley receive picks as forwards, while Patrick Roberts also earns two nominations. Roberts had made just two appearances for Fulham at that point and, while he has impressed on loan at Celtic from Manchester City, his season was severely depleted by injury.

Harry Kane was yet to sufficiently impress while it is notable that there was no faith in Theo Walcott to win back an England place.


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