Wayne Rooney has claimed England boss Gareth Southgate “killed” Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold by dropping him for the Three Lions.
In the build-up to Euro 2024, much was made about where Alexander-Arnold would feature for England this summer
But while Alexander-Arnold started England’s opening two group stage games, a 1-0 win over Serbia and a 1-1 draw against Denmark, he found himself benched for the Final game
Against Denmark, the Liverpool right-back was replaced by Conor Gallagher on 54 minutes, a substitution which signaled the end of the Alexander-Arnold in midfield experiment
Given his inexperience playing in midfield, there has been a suggestion Alexander-Arnold had been set-up to fail by Southgate
Rooney believes the decision to hook Alexander-Arnold off against Denmark “killed” the Liverpool man.
Rooney
“None of what happened in the group stage surprised me,”
“I would never have played Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield and expected that, when the experiment didn’t work, Gareth would try Conor Gallagher.
“Gareth killed both a bit by discarding them, but in each case it was the right call and when Mainoo came in you saw him making forward runs and showing composure on the ball.”
While it has been confirmed Kieran Trippier, who has started all three games for England so far at left-back, trained on Saturday, the Newcastle United defender has been dealing with a calf issue.
Southgate could opt to move Manchester City’s Kyle Walker to left-back, allowing for Alexander-Arnold to come into start in his favored position.
Against Slovenia, Alexander-Arnold replaced Trippier on 84 minutes, with Walker shifting over to the left-hand side
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