Best XI: The team England should pick at Euro 2016

If you asked Roy Hodgson to name his best XI he couldn’t do it, because he hasn’t had a consistency of selection and maybe doesn’t even know himself.

The system and the team has been very unsettled during qualifying - switching from a 4-4-2 diamond to a 4-3-3 - and it’s been fortunate that we have had such an easy group.

The standard of the opposition England have faced also means it’s really hard to know who would thrive when it really counts at the finals.

With all those caveats in mind, here is a best guess as to England’s most effective starting XI in France.

Hart has played the most games of any player under Hodgson and has got over the blip in his career from two years ago when he briefly lost his place for Manchester City. Manuel Pellegrini overplayed that situation anyway, and Hart has bounced back superbly. We don’t hear much about him which indicates he is getting on with his job well. Jack Butland had some big talk about putting pressure on Hart but it’s not realistic. Hart plays for a top side, in the Champions League, and won’t be dislodged.

He was the only genuine right-back named in the recent squad and, with Kyle Walker struggling for form and Glen Johnson slipping out of the picture, there is really only one option. Clyne has to cover his bases a bit more but he has done very well in the way he has propelled himself into the first team. He earned the right to play for England with his performances at Southampton and now he has to keep it going under more scrutiny at Liverpool.

Phil Jagielka and Cahill had been the favoured partnership for a while under Hodgson but with John Stones coming through there’s strong competition for places. However, I think you have to go with players with experience and for me that means partnering Chris Smalling with Cahill as they play in big games week in, week out.

Stones is coming through impressively and he will make a strong case if he can maintain his form for Everton but I think Smalling has made a lot of people take notice of the way he has started the season for Manchester United. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Cahill is a better player than Stones or Smalling, but the fact he plays so many big games for Chelsea means his authority will be essential in central defence.

Shaw has responded really well to an awful season in 2014-15 which was characterised by injuries and poor performances and he fully deserves his place in the team. Leighton Baines had a great opportunity at the World Cup and it passed him by. As far as I am concerned his chance is gone. As for Kieran Gibbs, you have to wonder why he is anywhere near the squad when he can’t even get in his club team. It doesn’t make any sense at all. If Shaw gets injured you are going to have to put in a player who is rusty having sat on the bench all season.

Shelvey did well against San Marino and I think he deserves to hold onto his spot as we see how he fares against stronger opposition. If he shines then his credentials will be more impressive. Shelvey has industry and application but I also think he is England’s most creative player. After one or two touches he is always looking for a pass and his game is forward-thinking.

Jack Wilshere had the role at the start of qualifying but I simply don’t think he’s ever shown enough in an England shirt to be a first-choice pick. He isn’t even first choice for his club at the moment. The holding midfield role suits him if he is fit because he’s brilliant with the ball at his feet and can score goals but he doesn’t have much pace. I do worry about his discipline though.

He typifies the qualities which people associate with English football: he runs all day, never gives up and you can trust him to give you everything. If you are looking for a man to open up international defences with a bit of craft, Milner is not your man; but if you are looking for someone industrious and hard-working, who is going to break up play and chase until the last minute, then he has to be in the team. That’s why Brendan Rodgers took him to Liverpool as an upgrade on someone like Joe Allen.

He never lets you down and from the moment you first saw him play, you knew he had something about him. Oxlade-Chamberlain is the boy who played football in the street every day while Theo Walcott was trying to be an athlete, and it shows. He has the hunger and quality to excel. Ross Barkley didn’t get a fair crack of the whip at the World Cup and has started the season really well but Oxlade-Chamberlain started the first match of Euro 2012 and if he has a good season at Arsenal he should do the same in France.

I think Sterling is arguably better in more of a free role where he can go where he wants to go and I don’t think he’s quite David Silva yet. However, he clearly has the potential to play through the middle. Playing behind a very static Rooney who doesn’t make runs in behind could be a problem but if you are playing the diamond formation, which Hodgson has favoured for the majority of qualifying, then I think Sterling has to be the man to go in there because he is creative and dangerous.

Rooney is a given. He is the captain and joint all-time record goalscorer and, barring a miracle, or injury, will start every game in France. But alongside him Sturridge is the biggest question mark in the whole England team. If he can get back to full fitness and form at Liverpool then Hodgson has to work out how to accommodate him in the team. He has to play, without a doubt. Before he succumbed to his injuries at Liverpool he was England’s best centre-forward and his return could make Rooney play a bit deeper. It’s a big season for Sturridge as he goes to out dismiss the doubts about his fitness.