England international break overall player ratings: Liverpool & Arsenal stars run the show with 8s and 9s

Two games, two wins, two 2-0s – Lee Carsley’s England sailed through the opening games of the UEFA Nations League in comfortable fashion, with plenty of new faces in the team and a new system and style of play on show. But which players looked like a natural fit for this new era? We’ve rated every England player to turn out for the Three Lions out of ten based on their performances in the wins against the Republic of Ireland and Finland below.

Jordan Pickford – 6

The Everton goalkeeper was forced into a smart low save by Sammie Szmodics just before Declan Rice’s opening goal against Ireland, but after that he was no more than an innocent bystander without a single further save to make. His distribution was solid enough when required, but that’s about all you can say given that he had so very little to do.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 9

The best player across the two matches, and it wasn’t especially close. The Liverpool man seems right at home in Carsley’s system, marauding down the wing at times – such as when his pinpoint cross gave Harry Kane a free header against Ireland – and tucking into midfield at others. His passing was sublime, from raking angled passes to pinpoint long balls over the top into Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze, which could and should have been scored. The question marks, of course, have always been around his defending and not his playmaking, so this wasn’t the final test to determine whether he’s the man for the job going forward, but he did everything asked of him quite brilliantly.

Marc Guéhi – 7

Carsley switched up his defensive pairings in the two games, with Guéhi starting against Ireland and getting the last 10 minutes at Wembley. He wasn’t tested or really involved in the latter, but in Ireland he was the probably best of England’s backline from a purely defensive standpoint, handling everything that came near him with his usual aplomb while recycling possession well.

Harry Maguire – 6

Maguire did what he does well in perfectly impressive fashion against Ireland, handling crosses into the box with confidence in particular, and he didn’t put a foot wrong, but with the defenders encouraged to take the ball forward more often one wonders how well the Manchester United man will fit into that new paradigm. Certainly there were no attacking flourishes to speak of.

Ezri Konsa – 6

There were, however, from Konsa, who got forward into the final third and played a fine through ball to Bukayo Saka against Finland which could, on another night, easily have resulted in a goal. No such luck on this occasion, and even worse luck from Aston Villa’s point of view, given that he was forced off with an apparent injury on the hour mark.

John Stones – 7

Stones came on for the last five minutes in Dublin but it was against Finland that he got more of a chance to show Carsley what he can do – and he used the ball exceptionally well, handled occasional moments of Finnish pressure comfortably enough and played six accurate long passes out of seven attempts, which is a big tick for a system which wants the ball forward quickly.

Levi Colwill – 6

Colwill was given the chance to try out at left-back against Ireland and as might be expected, he didn’t add too much going forward, never even touching the ball in the final third. Defensively, he was solid enough, but did give Chiedozie Ogbene a little too much space to play a dangerous ball to Szmodics and picked up a booking. The Chelsea man continues to look more like a centre-back in the long run, but didn’t have too much to do when he came on for the stricken Konsa at Wembley.

Rico Lewis – 7

The generously-coiffured youngster looked assured and impressive on the left against Finland, even though his lack of a strong left foot meant that he couldn’t offer the overlapping support that Gordon might have wanted on a few occasions. Still, he was effective coming inside high up the pitch and got into a couple of good positions on the underlap, missing a presentable opportunity when set up by Gordon – finishing seems to be his only real weakness.

Declan Rice – 8

Rice was absolutely dominant against the Irish midfield, winning just about every battle, and was dangerous getting forward as well, something he probably didn’t have sufficient license to do under Gareth Southgate – not only did he belt the opening goal home but it was his darting run and sharp one-two that teed up Jack Grealish for the second. He wasn’t quite as impactful against Finland, but kept the ball ticking over nicely and gave little enough away.

Kobbie Mainoo – 5

Mainoo wasn’t at his best against Ireland – he didn’t make a dent going forward and nor was he as rugged in one-on-ones as he can be, losing out a few too many times and getting himself booked before he was substituted in the second half. Usually a dynamic presence who forces plenty of turnovers, he was a little subdued on this one occasion.

Jack Grealish – 8

Probably England’s second-best player after Alexander-Arnold over the two games, Grealish looked like his old self and richly rewarded Carsley for calling him back up. All that tricky dribbling that Pep Guardiola seemed to have beaten out of him was back (he won six fouls over the two games), his movement was good, his passing and creativity impressive and, of course, he finished his chance against Ireland very nicely indeed. A real statement performance from a player who needs to prove he can get back to his best.

Angel Gomes – 7

The surprise call-up from Lille looked calm, composed and assured in possession throughout, and out of 135 attempted passes he only mislaid eight. He didn’t create any big chances but kept the ball moving forward consistently and protected it well when needed. The only surprise is that Gomes, normally a confident ball-carrier, didn’t attempt a single dribble in either match. He looked like he belonged in an England shirt, but we probably haven’t seen the best of him just yet.

Eberechi Eze – 6

Eze’s England career thus far has demonstrated a bit of a disconnect between his ability to get crowds on their feet (seemingly boundless) and his end product (as yet, no goals in nine games). He had his chances in his sub appearances, too, and probably should have done better when played through against Finland, but his dribbling and ability to look dangerous almost every time he gets on the ball still thrills. There’s a step up to be made, but his football is undeniably joyful.

Anthony Gordon – 7

Gordon should have scored against Ireland after being set clear by Alexander-Arnold but at least had the presence of mind to recover the rebound and ultimately get the ball through to Rice for the first goal in the Aviva Stadium. Aside from that he was consistently lively and forced a smart save from Finland goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký from the angle at Wembley.

Bukayo Saka – 8

The stats will say that the Arsenal winger got zero goals and zero assists, but that drastically undersells how good he was in and around the area – he was constantly beating defenders, creating space and playing in threatening final balls and it was just his bad luck that most of them found their way to Kane before he found his shooting boots in the second half against Finland (or before he remembered how to stay onside). Saka makes the entire attack tick.

Morgan Gibbs-White – 7

There’s only so much you can do in quarter of an hour, and that as all the Nottingham Forest man was given to prove his worth – but he did look lively in his brief time, playing a couple of really searching passes which could have easily resulted in goals on another day.

Noni Madueke – 7

Madueke got a little longer than Gibbs-White and got himself heavily involved in the second half, racing into space in order to set Kane up for the second goal of the night and giving the left-back Ilmari Niskanen palpitations on a few occasions. He could have done more when given the ball and space with two England players completely unmarked in the box and was perhaps unlucky when failing to get on the end of a dangerous cross across the face of goal, but while he could have done even more he still showed that he can be a hugely dangerous player and very difficult for defenders to handle.

Jarrod Bowen – 6

A late substitute in both games, Bowen really didn’t get a chance to show us what he was capable of but put in as many hard yards as he could chasing down lost causes and pressing high up the pitch. He didn’t really get any time to make a meaningful impact, however.

Harry Kane – 8

For a while, it seemed as if England’s newest international centurion wouldn’t get his goal. There was a free header in an otherwise worryingly becalmed performance against Ireland. A couple of half-chances snatched at against Finland, and an offside flag up when he did nod Saka’s cross home. But when he finally caught one just right, lashing it in off the underside of the Finnish bar, he was the old Kane again, peeling off defenders and thumping the ball into the net like it was the easiest thing in the world. He has a hundred caps – a hundred goals as well, anyone? Certainly, if there was any debate about whether he was the first-choice striker after a pretty poor Euro 2024, he had put it to bed by the end of the second game.