Liverpool’s players are all now officially on their summer break after the international football came to a close.
There was more heartbreak than delight for the Reds players involved in the finals of the Euros and Copa America over the weekend.
Four members of the Liverpool squad were aiming for glory in Berlin and Miami. However, only Alexis Mac Allister came away with a winners medal.
Mac Allister’s Argentina beat Luis Diaz and Colombia in extra-time, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez saw England fall to Spain in the German capital.
Neither Liverpool player was given time on the pitch by England boss Gareth Southgate across the 90 minutes, though. Gomez wasn’t handed a single second of action during the whole seven-game run.
Richard Keys slams Trent Alexander-Arnold treatment
All in all, the Euros were not a success for Liverpool players. The only real happiness at the end of it is that there was seemingly no injury trouble for Arne Slot to deal with during the tournament.
For some Reds fans, that will be all they will have asked for heading into both competitions this summer.
However, we’re of the opinion that it’s nice to see Liverpool players do well and be successful with their countries.
The Reds have not had a whole lot of representation in the England teams over the recent past and so it was good to see Alexander-Arnold start the tournament as part of Southgate’s midfield.
READ MORE: What Gareth Southgate said in private to Trent Alexander-Arnold after dropping him
However, with Trent dropped after two starts, he barely featured from then on in. The Scouser did not get on in either the semi-final or the final. Gary Linker claimed Alexander-Arnold had been ‘hung out to dry‘ by Southgate.
With the dust now settling on another disappointment for England, Richard Keys also hasn’t held back in what he thinks of Southgate’s handling of Trent.
“The experiment with TAA failed miserably – as it was always going to,” Keys says on his blog – richardajkeys.com. “Jurgen Klopp didn’t think Alexander-Arnold was a midfield player so what gave Safegate [Southgate] the idea he was? Klopp worked with him every day. Safegate didn’t, but he thought he knew better than Klopp.
“When Safegate admitted he was fumbling about looking for a partner for Rice I was astounded,” adds the presenter. “He’d had four years to do that following the Wembley final. In the end – I thought his treatment of TAA and Gallagher was poor.”
Jurgen Klopp mentioned for England job
There’s no question at all that Southgate’s failure to get the most – or anything at all – out of Alexander-Arnold is one of the biggest black marks against his management.
Trent is one of the best footballers in the Premier League. He’s one of Liverpool’s absolutely key men and can be a game-changer with his passing range.
However, Southgate continually failed to use him adequately and then threw him under the bus.
Few players will be more relieved at the manager’s decision to leave the job than Alexander-Arnold. Hopefully a fresh start can beckon under a better, more proactive coach.
There have been claims that England could turn to Jurgen Klopp after Southgate left. We can’t see Jurgen wanting to do it, but it would certainly be the shot in the arm Alexander-Arnold’s international career badly needs.
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