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Ian Wright has provided a voice of reason among pundits debating Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England midfield role, explaining that the system is flawed.
Alexander-Arnold has been England’s focus so far at Euro 2024, with Gareth Southgate starting as a 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.
• READ: Fans can’t believe Gareth Southgate’s confession about Trent Alexander-Arnold
The usual 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 as Liverpool’s number 66 looks set to become a scapegoat for England’s poor start to the tournament, Wright has come to his defense as part of an ITV panel.
“If you’re going to bring in Trent – and we’ve seen his ability at Liverpool, what he can do when he gets 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 to move forward,” he claimed.
“There is no movement for him, nothing is happening to him.
“Will he be able to turn around and do what he does – of course he won’t do what he did at right back and go to midfield, that’s a different kind of discipline for him – the fact is that he has no movement.
“Then what happens is he latches onto it, because he takes too long to make a decision.
“I don’t think there was enough movement from Phil Foden going inside, Harry Kane going deep.
“They come deep where we need him to extend the game. Saka is the only one going that way.”
Alongside Wright – an outspoken Liverpool supporter – in the studio was Roy Keane, who admitted that being sent off in both games was “not a good sign” for Alexander-Arnold’s chances.
“I thought it was always a big gamble to play a player who doesn’t play that week in week out for his club,” Keane said.
“I know people say he’s there for Liverpool, but to wander into a position and start it is completely different.
“I played in midfield, it’s a difficult position – physically, how to get distance – and he was short in two games.
“You’ve got to put this on Southgate”
“It’s not all about him, he’d probably have to put this on Gareth. It’s a big gamble to throw a defender in the middle of the park.
“And this wasn’t against the French or the Spanish or Germany, this was against two teams that we thought England would be quite comfortable and have a lot of possession.
“It was a big ask for him and he didn’t live up to it.”
England’s final group game is against Slovenia on Tuesday night, with Joe Gomez – previously unused – Liverpool’s second player in Southgate’s squad.
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