Gary Neville has expressed strong views about one Liverpool player who will play at Euro 2024.
Despite failing to impress in England’s first two games of the tournament, Gareth Southgate pulled Trent Alexander-Arnold from the starting lineup against Slovenia, opting for Conor Gallagher in midfield.
The Chelsea player was substituted at halftime during the competition’s worst encounter so far, and speaking on ITV, the former Manchester United defender was taken aback by the Reds’ vice-captain’s selection for international duty.
Neville raged: “I’d like to name Trent Alexander-Arnold. I know it’s a big boy’s game and you can be left out of a football match, but I do feel that he is the best right-back we’ve ever produced by a million miles in terms of in possession, and he’s now sat on the bench asking ‘What the hell’s going on?’. “He’ll probably be devastated.”
When even a hardcore United supporter like Neville is fighting Trent’s cause, you know Southgate is making a huge mistake with his handling of the Liverpool star.
The statistics show that the 25-year-old was the only player who added a creative spark to an otherwise sluggish England team in games against Serbia and Denmark, and he was unfairly blamed for last night’s snorefest.
Unfortunately for him, Gallagher’s half-time replacement was Kobbie Mainoo, with the Reds’ vice-captain only given a six-minute cap toward the conclusion of an absolutely dreadful game.
Kyle Walker hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees at Euro 2024, aside from his run to assist Harry Kane’s goal against Denmark, but Southgate’s innate conservatism and loyalty to long-serving stalwarts make it highly unlikely that he’ll drop the Manchester City right-back in favor of Trent.
It doesn’t take an excellent football manager to understand that Liverpool’s number 66 would provide this England team a much-needed boost with his amazing creativity. If the Three Lions are eliminated in the next round, and he is left with a watching brief, the coach will have some explaining to do.
