Though he is yet to feature at all during England’s Euros campaign, Wayne Rooney has held up Joe Gomez as the obvious solution to a problem at left-back.
Gomez is one of eight players who have not made it onto the pitch for England so far in Germany, with his first major tournament spent on the bench.
This comes despite Gareth Southgate not possessing a fit, natural left-back, with Luke Shaw unable to feature in any of the group games as Kieran Trippier starts in his place.
After a season that saw him stand out as a reliable option for Liverpool on both sides of the defence, the 27-year-old seems an obvious option.
Rooney, speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Football Daily podcast, has agreed, explaining that it is a toss-up between Trippier or Gomez having been “shocked” that Ben Chilwell was left out.
“At the minute, it’s Trippier or Gomez, for me, who should play there,” he said.
“I was very surprised and really shocked that Ben Chilwell didn’t get picked – just for the balance of having a left-footed player there.”
The ex-Man United and Everton striker continued: “So do you play Trippier or Gomez there? Do you bring Kyle Walker across?
“Over the past few years, Kyle has been the best right-back in the world. Do you take that away from him and put him at left-back? There’s so many imbalances about the team.
“Should Foden play on the left, on the right, or as a No. 10? There are so many questions.”
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Though his assertion that Walker has been the best right-back in world football may overshadow any other insight, Rooney is right to hold up Gomez as an option.
It is particularly interesting given reports that Trippier is managing a calf injury, which saw him brought off for Trent Alexander-Arnold late on against Slovenia before training separate to the squad on Thursday.
There is a chance, then, that Trippier misses the last-16 clash with Slovakia on Sunday, which could pave the way for Gomez to come into the side.
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Still, it seems unlikely given Southgate’s reluctance to use him so far – even in the warmup friendlies with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Iceland, he only came off the bench for a combined 43 minutes.
But Rooney’s words strike a chord when it comes to the unease growing around the England manager, whose team selection throughout the tournament so far has left a lot to be desired.
After all the promise of a bold squad announcement as underperforming big names were left out, it turns out Southgate has still relied on the same faces for the Euros.
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