With 2022 now at its end, it’s time to take a look at the best English Football XI of the year.
From Liverpool’s cup double to Manchester City’s stunning Premier League triumph and football finally coming home on English soil, 2022 has certainly delivered plenty of moments to saviour for decades to come.
On the player front, Mohamed Salah, Aleksandr Mitrovic and Sam Kerr were amongst many names who impressed, whilst there were the usual mixture of bizarre to utter sublime goals plus crazy VAR decisions to boot.
11 players though have excelled more than others to learn a spot in the 2022 BestEnglish Football XI whilst one manager even stood out above big names like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Emma Hayes.
Without further ado, here is the 2022 English Football XI complete with full details and discover which manager has impressed most.
Goalkeeper – Mary Earps (Manchester United)
In a memorable year packed with plenty of goalkeeping brilliance across various competitions from players like Alisson and Nick Pope to name a couple of goalkeepers, Manchester United Women’s Mary Earps was just sensational across 2022 as a whole.
From stunning saves against Leicester in WSL to European giants like Spain, Sweden and Germany, Earps has enjoyed an unbelievable year in which she helped England to Arnold Clark Cup and UEFA Women’s Euro success – of which she played every minute in the latter tournament.
Add in the fact that the 29 year-old had amassed just eight caps and not played at a major tournament before Sarina Wiegman became England Women manager, it just makes Earps’ achievements this year even more remarkable.
Earps’ stats even make for impressive reading because she managed to keep 22 clean sheets and made 56 saves for club and country in all competitions, plus is currently the best English goalkeeper in the WSL out of those who have played at least five matches this season.
On that note, it is impossible to snub Earps purely on reflection of her overall year once consider stats and acknowledge her lack of major tournament experience, yet she somehow pulled it out of the back to help the Lionesses to two trophies – of which both were won on home soil.
Defence – Kieran Trippier (Newcastle United), Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Ashleigh Neville (Tottenham), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa)
Starting with right-back, Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier springs to mind as one of the best right-backs of 2022 because he has rarely put a foot wrong, with fantastic contributions to Newcastle’s defensive improvement and link-up attacking play which has put the Magpies into the fight for Europe.
Whilst it is easy to underwrite Trippier’s qualities, it is worth noting that during England’s disastrous Nations League campaign, he started in two of their three draws and played a crucial role in helping England top Group B at the World Cup especially with impactful ball presence with his touches.
Moving into central defence, Manchester City’s Ruben Dias has enjoyed a strong 2022 overall – even if his performances were more prolific in the first half of the year – because he has been incredibly solid all year-long and played a crucial part in City’s title defence especially in his interceptions.
Completing the centrai defensive pairing, Tottenham Hotspur Women’s Ashleigh Neville has once again quietly delivered a consistent all-round defensive job with six goals and three asists, which somehow still has gone under the radar for many pundits and especially Wiegman.
Neville also deserves praise for how she publicly handled a snub for the final England Women squad of 2022 by iterating in a tweet that although a call-up would be “great”, she remains focused and committed to Spurs in a rare mature glimpse of how to handle an international snub with grace.
Just want to say a massive thank you to everyone for your messages and support. Of course it’s everyone’s dream to play for their country but my focus is to be at my best for Tottenham and if the call up comes then great! We keep moving ⚽️? COYS ⚽️?
— Ash Neville (@AshNev10) November 2, 2022
At left-back, there is no more obvious pick than Rachel Daly who has been as reliably versatile as ever with 17 goals and three assists for club and country, of which ten goals were scored for Aston Villa alone following her move from Houston Dash this summer.
Another reason why Daly has earned a spot on this list is because no matter what position she has been deployed in, she just gets on with her task quietly and always add positive impact when Villa or England get on the attack with 2022 proving her strongest year yet overall.
Midfield – James Maddison (Leicester), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Ella Toone (Manchester United)
Having earned a deserved call-up for England to end a three-year snub following excellent performances for Leicester, James Maddison absolutely cannot be ignored in this XI because he has simply been a dynamic spark in a year of woe for the Foxes with 18 goals and 10 assists.
Maddison’s performances has also been backed up by his stats as one of the best English midfield goalscoring and playmaking players across 2022, highlighting just how well he has done across the calendar year despite not getting a single minute during the World Cup.
Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne meanwhile has been as consistent as ever for City plus Belgium with 17 goals and 27 assists across 2022, which again makes it difficult to leave him out such is his regular consistency and attacking contributions in another memorable year for the Belgian.
Completing the midfield line-up is Manchester United Women’s Ella Toone who has quietly been one of the stand-out stars of 2022, with consistent performances for club and country complete with plenty of memorable goals and assists to boot.
Toone’s calendar year tally of 14 goals and 13 goals therefore is an incredible achievement, especially if consider the crucial role that she played as an impact substitute for England at this summer’s Women’s Euros with two crucial goals against Spain and Germany en-route to title success.
Forward – Beth Mead (Arsenal), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Alessia Russo (Manchester United)
If 2021-22 season wasn’t unbelievable for Beth Mead, the Hinderwell-born forward has simply been sensational across 2022 alone with 25 goals and 18 assists for Arsenal and England across all competitions.
This summer’s UEFA Women’s Euro in particular demonstrated why Mead has been one of this year’s best forwards across the English game, because she not only created and finished goals but her attacking pace and physicality has often terrified defenders on a level that so few forwards can create.
An ACL injury though has curtailed Mead’s current season but she has plenty of reasons to be proud of her year, both on and off the pitch after she signed a new contract and became the first female footballer to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
Centrally, there is just one stand-out pick because since arriving on English soil in August at Manchester City, Erling Haaland has been a nightmare for Premier League clubs to handle with 26 goals and three assists in 21 appearances in all competitions at time of writing.
It is therefore difficult to leave out the 22 year-old because he has just seamlessly transitioned into English football with little ease, whilst his athletic ability coupled with skill to drop deep to create and finish attacks is just incredible to watch.
Completing the front three with 17 goals and four assists is Alessia Russo, who has quietly been one of this year’s biggest football stars with individual moments of brilliance on occasions – i.e. her backheel stunner against Sweden in the Euro semi-finals.
Russo though has been a huge presence for both Manchester United and England this year with her attacking creativity, even if she doesn’t always convert onto target or into goals but she has enjoyed a strong 2022 and is set to be a leading star heading into a huge 2023 for the Lionesses.
Manager – Sarina Wiegman (England Women)
Since taking charge of England Women in September 2021, Sarina Wiegman enjoyed a sophomore few months in charge with 53 goals without reply in six wins but 2022 proved something completely unbelievable for this Dutch hero.
The only place to start is with Wiegman’s attacking philosphy which totally evolved the Lionesses to unprecedented heights, in which she blended youth and experience with an unique grounding which really showed throughout 2022 in their unity as a team and increased attacking ability.
Even the stats match their performances as the Lionesses went unbeaten for the entire year with 16 wins and four draws, which included Arnold Clark Cup and 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro titles plus a shock friendly win that ended USA’s 22-match unbeaten run.
72 goals in 2022 alone also underlines just how much Wiegman has done for the Lionesses in making them serious title challengers, whilst manging squad expectations in a way that not many managers of any England senior team have done during a tournament before.
In fact, Wiegman has simply been a notch above any other manager in the English game this year and as the manager who ended England’s 56-year wait for a major trophy, it is impossible to not name her as the best manager of 2022.
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