Former England winger Kieron Dyer has claimed that Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold should play every game for England at the World Cup.
Alexander-Arnold has played just over half an hour of the Three Lions campaign so far. But speaking to the True Geordie Podcast, Dyer insisted that the Liverpool defender should play a bigger role.
“With Trent, and I’ve been a coach, and I’ve heard Gary Neville and all of the pundits on what Trent can’t do. We never embrace what players can do. Could you imagine him against USA the other night? I’ve never seen technique like it since David Beckham, and this is from a right back,” said the pundit.
“He’s incredible going forward, but all we seem to do is bash him for what he can’t do. If you’re that worried, you weigh it up and go he might get us a goal, but he might lose us two goals. I can understand that against a Brazil or a Spain, but when it’s USA or Wales… come on.
“Listen, this is no knock. Trippier has had an exceptional season at Newcastle. But Trent, and this is no disrespect to Trippier, when you’re talking about assists, he’s nearly broke every assist record there is for a full-back already.
“I’d play him in all of these games, and if you’re coming to Brazil when you’re worried about Vinicius Jr, then hopefully Kyle Walker is fit or Trippier. But again, we love to tell players what they can’t do.”
Trent out in the cold in Qatar
At this point, it would be a genuine miracle if Alexander-Arnold started any games for England at this World Cup.
As Dyer points out, Gareth Southgate’s side have hardly played world beaters already, and Trent has been left out.
He managed a token half an hour against Wales with England already 2-0 up. But beyond that, he’s the manager’s third choice at right-back.
Kyle Walker started over him on Tuesday despite having not played for over a month. With the knockout stages the next assignment for England, the Liverpool defender simply isn’t getting in the side
In fact, you’d probably put good money on Alexander-Arnold having played his only minutes of the tournament against Wales.
For a player of Trent’s standing, that simply isn’t good enough. More than that, it’s downright bizarre, as Brazilian legend Cafu has pointed out. Of course, that’s through no fault of his own. Although he may not have been in the best of form, he’s still England’s most talented option in the position.
Until there’s a new man in charge of his nation’s team though, he’s likely to remain on the fringes.
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