Roy Keane lambasted Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s performance in midfield during England’s 1-1 draw against Denmark at the EURO 2024 on Thursday night. He remarked that the Liverpool star ‘is not up to’ playing in the center of the pitch during England’s clash. He also criticized Declan Rice as well, stating he should have supported Alexander-Arnold.
It is worth noting that Gareth Southgate has included Alexander-Arnold in a more forward role in England’s first two EURO clashes, substituting him for Conor Gallagher in both games. Fascinatingly, the 25-year-old has proven his worth versus Denmark, completing 88 percent of his passes and making three chances, the most by any player in the match. Despite this, the Irish coach expressed his dissatisfaction, asserting that the youngster fell short in both games.
“I thought it was always a huge gamble to play him, a player who doesn’t play [that position] week in, week out for his club. I know people say he drifts in there for Liverpool, but drifting into a position and starting there are different. I’ve played in midfield, it’s a tough position. Physically, getting your distances… He’s come up short in the two games,” he said on ITV Football.
He went on to criticize coach Gareth Southgate’s decision to employ a fullback in the central position. He further commented that it was a demanding role for Alexander-Arnold, which he was not up to.
‘Now it’s not all down to him. You’d probably have to put this on Gareth [Southgate]. It’s a huge gamble throwing a full back into the middle of the park. This is not against the French or the Spanish where they have tougher tests ahead. This is against two teams who we thought England would be fairly comfortable against and have lots of possession. It was a big ask for him, and he’s not up to it,” he added.
There’s nothing happening for Alexander-Arnold: Ian Wright
Ian Wright has argued that England faced limited options ahead of Alexander-Arnold in England’s opening matches. He added that the other players were going deep instead of permitting the midfielder to stretch play as needed. Notably, Wright’s remarks followed Southgate’s comments on starting with Alexander-Arnold as an ‘experiment.’
“And when he’s going into midfield, I hear what Roy’s saying that it’s a different kind of discipline for him. But the fact is that he’s got no movement and he’s getting caught on it because he’s taking too long to make a decision. I don’t think there was enough movement from Phil Foden coming inside, Harry Kane’s coming in deep. They’re coming deep when we need him to stretch the play. [Bukayo] Saka is the only one who is going that way,” said Wright.
Meanwhile, Keane emphasized his point, noting that Alexander-Arnold had imposed an additional workload on Declan Rice in midfield.
“We all talk in football about what you do in possession, but it’s really important against the better teams what you do out of possession. That’s why he’s been thrown in at the deep end. Ok, he’s going to be comfortable on the ball and he can see a pass there’s no doubting that, but it’s the other bits of his game – Rice feels like he is almost babysitting him in there. You can’t do that at this level. You will be found out,” Keane further said.
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