Chelsea and the Euros show best XIs may be a thing of the past

Chelsea fans, just like fans of any club, love a good “who is our best XI?” conversation. English fans love it too, with fans of every single club having their own best XI and thinking Gareth Southgate is an idiot for not playing them.

Increasingly, the whole idea of a best XI is outdated. Sure, there may be a clear standout in a position, but overall teams are becoming too deep at the top levels to simplify a club or national team down to 11 every single match day.

Chelsea has no best XI. England probably doesn’t either and being able to rely on tons of players is only a positive for the squads.

Take, for example, Cesar Azpilicueta and Reece James at right wingback. Now, obviously fans have a preference between the two at wingback but Thomas Tuchel sees two very different players for two very different situations. So there is no one size fits all XI to be used.

Gareth Southgate is thinking in the same way. Kieran Trippier offers something much different than both Luke Shaw and Ben Chilwell at left back. The opponent plays a large part in who is “best”.

Beyond that is fatigue and England has a great example of that. The Euros will take place over roughly a month with tons of games crammed in after one of the most exhausting seasons of all time. With options such as Trippier, Shaw, and Chilwell for one position, it only benefits Southgate to rotate as much as he can to keep players fresh. The same goes for the constant, tiring back and forth over Phil Foden, Mason Mount, and Jack Grealish. Each has their place at different moments. There is no need for the constant back and forth over who is best or goes in the best XI.

The same situation plays out with Chelsea’s front three. Other than Mount who simply goes above and beyond, there is no player that can assume they’ll start up top. Timo Werner and Christian Pulisic both offer penetration (in different ways), Kai Havertz and Hakim Ziyech offer creativity (again, in different ways), and Callum Hudson-Odoi can offer one thing on one flank and something entirely different on the other. The right combination relative to the opponent is far more important than who is “best”.

Every international tournament, pundits and fans start looking for the big tactical trends that will carry into the club season. This time, it won’t be one that will carry into the season but one that is carrying into the international tournament. Teams with deep squads no longer have best XIs and it is a bit silly to. Instead, they look for the right players for the right games. Beyond that, they can keep players fresh longer by rotating more. Might it hurt team chemistry? Maybe but good managers have tactics that are simple enough yet specific enough that players can plug and play without the team losing out.

That’s the big tactical trend of this Euros so far: rotation and the end of best XIs. For those upset that certain players aren’t starting, don’t worry, their time will come. There just won’t be any guarantees game to game.