2024 English Football XI

With 2024 now at an end, it is time to reflect on 11 stand-out players in the annual English Football XI. 

A memorable year saw England finish runners-up at UEFA Men’s Euros, whilst Manchester City achieved a historic fourth consecutive top-flight title.

Liverpool and Manchester United meanwhile triumphed in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup respectively, of which they played out a Quarter-Final epic in the latter competition.

Down on the cusp of the EFL and Non League, there was a fairytale brewing as Bromley reached the fourth-tier for the first time in their 132-year history, having prevailed in a classic National League Play-Off Final spectacle.

Now here is the 2024 English Football XI.

 

Goalkeeper 

With 22 clean sheets in all competitions for Everton and England across 2024, Jordan Pickford has once again been outstanding with some exceptional saves, particularly against Virgil Van Dijk as England beat Netherlands in Euro semis.

Pickford also has shown his mettle in the Premier League with six saves in November’s goalless draw at West Ham, underlining why he is one of the best shot-stoppers in the game.

 

Defence

Although Manchester City hasn’t exactly been at their best lately, Josko Gvardiol nevertheless has been a consistently solid defender throughout the year with eight goals and one assist but isn’t afraid to attack when needed.

Arsenal’s Gabriel is another centre-back who has enjoyed a positive 2024 as he showed similar attacking confidence like Gvardiol, yet has been consistent defensively with seven goals (six header) plus one assist as reward for his efforts.

Out wide, Tottenham’s Pedro Porro has once again quietly produced impressive displays at right-back with six goals and five assists, particularly with his attacking pace and passing ability which doesn’t get enough praise.

Sticking with Spurs but across in their women’s team, Ashleigh Neville has once again displayed excellent all-round defensive consistency and versatility despite being overlooked by many pundits

 

Midfield

When think about midfield in English football in 2024, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer immediately springs to mind for his dynamic displays – especially with 31 goals and 16 assists for the Blues and England in a breakthrough year.

Guro Reiten is another stand-out performer with 14 goals and nine assists in total for Chelsea Women, even despite a change of manager which says a lot about her consistency and importance to the Blues’ success.

Across in North London, Arsenal’s Kai Havertz has quietly done a solid job as a versatile midfielder during which he has netted 19 goals and created eight assists, which is impressive considering his middling quality when at Chelsea.

 

Forward

This forward selection was the easiest part of the list especially with Erling Haaland’s recent rut dropping him out of contention, as Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been more consistent across the year with 29 goals and 24 assists.

That is even factoring in Liverpool’s managerial transition from Jurgen Klopp to Arne Slot, because the change seems to have reenergised Salah with 20 goals so far this season alone.

Across on the women’s side of the game, Man City’s Khadija Shaw has been just clinical with 26 goals, of which she scored six of those goals in a pair of hat-tricks underlining just how consistent she has been when fit.

It is easy to look at the top names in this type of XI but Bromley’s Michael Cheek deserves the last spot, having delivered 23 goals plus created four assists whilst maturely transitioning from non-league to EFL with confidence and adaptability.

His performance in the National League Play-Off Final in particular stood out in how he exploited his poacher style to maximum impact, especially for his first goal which probably would of been disallowed for a foul if VAR had been in use.

 

Manager

Pep Guardiola instinctively stands out as the obvious manager of the year given City’s success, but he has dipped in performance with little answers to City’s low confidence which is unlike him.

Klopp and Manchester United Women’s Marc Skinner deserve mentions for their cup success in the first half of the year, as does Emma Hayes for Chelsea’s WSL title then Olympic Gold with USA in the space of three months.

Kieran McKenna and Phil Parkinson too deserve praise for achieving successive promotions with Ipswich and Wrexham respectively.

For me though, Bromley’s Andy Woodman stood out as manager of the year for how he blended youth and experience to get the Ravens promoted, and survived an early-season rut to get them on a 11-match unbeaten league run.

I genuinely feel that any other club would of sacked Woodman but it is to Bromley’s credit and resilient patience of fans for standing by him that they’re on the up, and now in the hunt for a likely play-off spot if not automatic promotion.

Add in Bromley’s modest transfer budget compared to their League Two rivals plus savvy dealings, and Woodman has done an exceptional job this year to not only get promotion but consolidate his team in the EFL.