Who should Gareth Southgate pick? Does it matter?

It's the decision that is the most scrutinised by any England manager.

The squad for the tournament is decided, the last training session is done. The meticulous prep work is complete and the gameplan is in place. The only thing left is to decide which players are the ones chosen to enact it.

It's the kind of decision that has haunted many a national boss through the years, and almost always for the wrong reason.

Most tournament elevens in the past have picked themselves, with the handful of star names available guaranteed a starting spot less by the size of their own talent but more by the paucity of it in those around them.

Those days are gone for Gareth Southgate, who has almost the opposite problem as he plots to take England into a major tournament final for the first time in 55 years.

Ahead of the big kick off this summer this group was widely seen as the most talented since the much-vaunted 'golden generation' of 15 years ago. What has been seen since on this team's journey all the way to the final four is that was no exaggeration.

What this squad lacks in top end star power - although the price tags on the likes of Harry Kane and Jadon Sancho would probably beg to differ - it more than makes up in depth and it is that depth that is proving England's biggest weapon at the tournament so far.

Southgate has handed 17 players starts so far. A further four have played some part from the bench. Only five - six if you include goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who withdrew from the squad before the tournament - are yet to play a minute.

This truly has been a squad effort with every corner of it playing their part on the team’s run to the semi-finals.

Midfielder Kalvin Phillips provided the crucial through-ball for Raheem Sterling's winner against Croatia. Bukayo Saka entered the fray against the Czech Republic and was electric as the Three Lions earned top spot in Group D.

Jack Grealish was the hero against Germany, climbing off the bench to help make both goals as the hosts ended 20 years of hurt against one of their oldest rivals. And against Ukraine it was Luke Shaw, with the Manchester United left-back putting in a two-assist performance so good it even caught the eye of Brazilian great Roberto Carlos.

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That's before you salute the likes of Kyle Walker and Declan Rice and John Stones and Jordan Pickford, all instrumental in a record run of five clean sheets in a row.

Or captain Kane, who has gone from scoreless to three goals in a little over a game in the knockout stage or Sterling, who has put a disappointing club season firmly behind him to find his best-ever form in the shirt of his country.

What it all adds up to as Southgate ponders which 11 men he will place his faith in against Denmark on Wednesday night, is a somewhat easy decision.

Sure he knows the Danes are dangerous, a team with the emotional backing of a nation back home urging them on to win it for Christian Eriksen. But he also knows that his own team are ready for this challenge, whichever combination he chooses.

The days of one David Beckham or Wayne Rooney-shaped card falling and bringing the whole house down are over. This team now feels far bigger and better than any one individual.

There is still time for England not to win, of course, for football not to come after all. Regardless of the emotion attached, there are no guarantees in football, a fact any fan of the last half-century of the English game is acutely aware of.

But it no longer feels like England's fortunes live or die on who the manager selects and who he leaves out. They've already shown themselves to be more than that.

So who should Southgate pick? The more pertinent question may actually be: does it matter?