Phil Neville has responded to suggestions that Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold should retire from international duty.
The comments about Alexander-Arnold were made by TalkSPORT pundit Gabby Agbonlahor. Speaking on Wednesday morning, the pundit claimed that the Liverpool full-back should turn his back on England.
“If I was Trent I would retire from international duty if I don’t get in the World Cup squad. I’d retire until a new manager took charge of England and gave me the opportunity, 100%,” said Agbonlahor.
“What’s the point in going away on these international breaks? Stay with your club, rest and prepare yourself for Liverpool. For Southgate to come out and say Trippier is all-round better than Trent, I think that’s an insult. I do like Trippier but Trent is an all-round better player. Walker and James for me are better than Trent but don’t say Trippier. Come on, jokes over Gareth.”
Some would say a quite legitimate opinion from the outspoken former Aston Villa striker. Not Neville, though. The current Inter Miami boss took to Twitter to call Agbonlahor’s comments ‘ridiculous.’
Plenty to weigh up for Trent
It feels strange to side with Agbonlahor, particularly after his recent spat with Jurgen Klopp. But we’re going to have to here.
Some would suggest that Alexander-Arnold should simply get his head down and make it impossible for Southgate not to pick him. But over the past several years, he couldn’t have done much more of that already.
Since the start of Liverpool’s title-winning campaign, Trent has started just nine times for England.
Okay, his form at the moment isn’t great. But it’s simply not true to say that this has been the case throughout that period. In fact, at times over that three-year stretch, he has legitimately been the best player in the country.
And yet, he still hasn’t done enough to convince Southgate.
As a result, it feels as though the 23-year-old is never going to get his due from this England manager. It could be that Southgate genuinely doesn’t trust him defensively, or maybe he simply doesn’t know how to get the best out of him.
Either way, going away with England is becoming a waste of time for the player. More than that, the continuous discourse and negativity around the issue could be badly damaging his confidence.
For those reasons, maybe Alexander-Arnold would be best served by removing himself from the process. If he can outlast Southgate, surely the next manager will see value in playing one of the best in his position in the world.
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