Manager swap XIs: How would England and Spain line up if Southgate traded jobs with Luis Enrique?

England and Spain are set to face-off in one of the UEFA Nations League’s marquee opening fixtures.

Both sides had memorable World Cups for very different reasons, and approach this tie in markedly different situations. England’s positive tournament has led to continuity, and a stable squad with few changes from the summer. Meanwhile Spain’s topsy turvy World Cup has seen them changed managers and deploy a squad with plenty of new faces and ideas.

The two men charge, Gareth Southgate and Luis Enrique, have such distinct personalities and their sides play in very unique ways. Southgate has stamped his authority on England whilst Lucho’s Barcelona side were distinctly different from the Guardiola and Cruyff-influenced “norm” at the Camp Nou, and it’s expected he will bring that same approach to Spain.

But what happened if he brought it to England? And what if Southgate was in charge of Spain? What would those teams look like? We here at Squawka were curious, so we had a look and came up with two manager swap XI’s based on the current squads!

Southgate’s Spain

First thing’s first: 3-5-2 is the way. Southgate has shown enormous faith in this formation so there’s no way he’d deviate from that now. Also, the team will play up-tempo passing football designed around enhancing the skills of the midfield playmakers and the men up-front.

David De Gea keeps his place in goal of course, whilst the back three consists of Sergio Ramos as the anchor with Cesar Azpilicueta and Inigo Martinez as the anchors. Azpilicueta is a stalwart centre-back in a back three and can also provide great attacking potential when going forward; and Martinez is a stable left-footed option who can do similar on the left. Ramos is more Maguire than Stones, but still, he would dominate the defence both with and without the ball.

Sergio Busquets anchors midfield, and this would be a gamechanging thing for Southgate as someone who can effectively mark space and manage defensive transitions as well as thread the ball forward would cut out a lot of the defensive open-ness that plagued England at times. Ahead of Busquets, Thiago and Isco run the show in the middle. Both players are good off the ball but excel on it, meaning that Southgate’s fluid system now has some serious playmaking to it.

Out wide, Dani Carvajal and Marcos Alonso are the side’s wing-backs. Both men can cross, both men can score (imagine Alonso attacking a Southgate set-piece), and they’re both workhorses who will run up and down the touch-line, in part to service the forwards. Here Alvaro Morata is the obvious no. 9; a smart and savvy player who is as good dropping deeper as he is running beyond. Finally the magic man in attack is Marco Asensio, a winger whose close control and creative eye make him impossible to deal with.

Luis Enrique’s England

What’s funny with the idea of Lucho managing England is that he’s probably more stereotypically English in his approach than Southgate is. The system would be a 4-3-3/4-4-2 hybrid, much like he used during most of his time in Barcelona.

In goal, Jordan Pickford is probably the standout candidate although with Lucho’s love of rotating goalkeepers Jack Butland would probably still get a look-in. One for the Nations League and friendlies, one for the Euro and World Cup qualifiers, perhaps? Ahead of him the back four picks itself: Walker, Stones, Maguire and Shaw. Trippier could perhaps make a case for himself but the relentless athleticism that Walker brings to the role would appeal to Lucho’s sensibilities.

Eric Dier plays at the base of midfield, a strong presence there to break-up attacks and move the ball on. Jordan Henderson is ahead of him, another physical midfielder with a great motor. A straight-line runner, Henderson can help Dier out but is equally capable of pushing forward to attack and covering wide; the Roker Park Rakitic. Next to him is the dribbler, the playmaker: Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Obviously Jesse Lingard could go here, but Lucho’s preference for athletes and physical power means Loftus-Cheek comfortably starts here.

In attack we have Dele Alli roaming in from the right-wing spot to essentially have a free-role. Dele would create with the ball but also just make goalscoring runs whenever he could as Henderson would cover him by flanking wide. On the left Marcus Rashford is the pace. The Manchester United man would hold wide, being asked to defend as well as attack; but with the ball he would be the primary avenue of creating pressure in the final third, cutting infield as Luke Shaw bombed on beyond him. Up-front, of course, is Harry Kane. With supply coming in from all angles, Kane would be encouraged to stay up-top and wreak havoc.

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