Simply too good a footballer to leave behind?
- Published
Phil McNulty, chief football writer
The selection - or otherwise - of Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was the most vexed question in the build up to Tuesday's England squad announcement.
It seems England's squad is seriously overloaded in one position - and not a position that necessarily defines the destiny of big games.
Is Gareth Southgate's reasoning that Alexander-Arnold is simply too good a footballer to leave behind, a player with the capacity to be a game-changer in an attacking context that does not apply to the others battling for the right-back slot?
His defensive qualities come under regular scrutiny but his deliveries from set-pieces, both in creating chances and scoring from dead-ball situations, are world class. He has a gift that has altered the course of big games.
Four right-backs may seem too much (and probably is) but Alexander-Arnold's all-purpose attacking ability makes his selection the right move by Southgate.