Ian Wright has provided the voice of reason among pundits discussing Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s midfield role with England, explaining the system is flawed.
Alexander-Arnold has been the focus throughout England’s time at Euro 2024 so far, with Gareth Southgate starting the natural right-back in his midfield.
In both games, a 1-0 win over Serbia and a 1-1 draw with Denmark, the 25-year-old was substituted early in the second half with Conor Gallagher taking his place.
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The common theory is that Gallagher will now start the final group game against Slovenia with Alexander-Arnold relegated to the bench, after Southgate admitted his use was an “experiment.”
But while Liverpool’s No. 66 looks to be becoming a scapegoat for England’s poor start to the tournament, Wright has come to his defence as part of ITV’s panel.
“If you are going to bring Trent in – and we’ve seen his capabilities at Liverpool, what he can do when he gets on the ball in those areas – if you’re going to play him the way we’ve seen him play for Liverpool, he’s going to need movement up front,” he argued.
“There’s no movement for him, there’s nothing happening for him.
“Whether he’s going to be able to turn there and do what he does – of course he’s not going to do what he’s done at right-back and he’s going into the midfield, it’s a different kind of discipline for him – the fact is he’s got no movement.
“Then what’s happening is he’s getting caught on it, because he’s taking too long to make the decision.
“I don’t think there was enough movement from Phil Foden who’s coming inside, Harry Kane’s coming deep.
“They’re coming deep where we need him to stretch the play. Saka’s the only one who’s going that way.”
Alongside Wright – an out-of-the-closet Liverpool fan – in the studio was Roy Keane, who acknowledged that being brought off in both games was “not a good sign” for Alexander-Arnold’s chances.
“I thought it was always a huge gamble to play a player who doesn’t play that week in, week out for his club,” Keane said.
“I know people say he drifts in there for Liverpool, but drifting into a position and starting it is completely different.
“I’ve played in midfield, it’s a tough position – physically, getting your distances – and he’s come up short in the two games.
“You’d have to put this on Southgate”
“That’s not all down to him, you’d have to put this probably on Gareth. It’s a huge gamble, to throw a full-back into the middle of the park.
“And this was not against the French or the Spanish or Germany, this was against two teams where we thought England would be fairly comfortable and have lots of possession.
“It was a big ask for him and he’s not up to it.”
England’s final group game comes against Slovenia on Tuesday night, with Joe Gomez – so far unused – the other Liverpool player in Southgate’s squad.
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