With Europe’s domestic leagues gearing up for the latest international fixtures, one of the biggest talking points this week has been Trent Alexander-Arnold’s continued exile from Gareth Southgate’s England team.
Despite being one of Jurgen Klopp’s and Liverpool’s most trusted players, Alexander-Arnold, 23, has been frozen when it comes to representing his country.
Although he made his senior international debut for Southgate in 2019, the 23-year-old only won a further 16 caps and with this winter’s Qatar World Cup fast approaching, fans and pundits are beginning to wonder why.
One person who thinks he knows why Southgate may not have full faith in Liverpool’s number 66 is former Reds midfielder Stan Collymore.
“Throughout my career I played Gareth Southgate twice, once in the youth setup at Crystal Palace and again at Aston Villa where he was my skipper, and I can tell you for sure that he likes players with round chips to play. the round holes,” Collymore said. in an exclusive interview.
“When it comes to full-backs, Southgate’s first priority is to defend and then attack and unfortunately for Alexander-Arnold, as we all know, his game is the complete opposite.”
Collymore, of course, is correct in his assessment. Alexander-Arnold is a modern attacking full-back and a player who is capable of providing the creativity once only associated with a central midfielder.
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However, reaffirming Southgate’s concerns about Alexander-Arnold’s defensive ability, Collymore suggested that the disappointing form of John Stones and Harry Maguire has also hampered the 23-year-old’s chances.
“Alexander-Arnold is going to give his coach a lot of attacking and creative options, but the biggest concern for him is his ability to drop back into his own goal, and that has been the case for him while playing at a very good level. Liverpool team so maybe you can understand Southgate’s caution,” the 51-year-old added.
“I think in Southgate’s mind, he’s worried that people like John Stones and Maguire, who aren’t exactly in the shape of their lives, would come under more defensive pressure if Alexander-Arnold was on the right side of the baseline. ”
