Neville slams ‘illegal’ decision to put Alexander-Arnold on the bench

Gary Neville has slammed the ‘illegal’ decision not to select Trent Alexander-Arnold for England’s last-16 clash with Slovakia at Euro 2024.

England produced an awful first-half performance as they fell 1-0 behind to Ivan Schranz’s strike in Gelsenkirchen.

And Neville tore into the Three Lions for their woeful display, calling for changes at half-time and highlighting Alexander-Arnold being on the bench as a key problem.

‘He needs two or three changes now,’ Neville said on ITV. ‘It’s illegal that we don’t have Trent Alexander-Arnold on the pitch.

‘We can not have Walker and Trippier left and right back when we’re on the ball most of the time. That is the kid the best football player we’ve ever seen at right-back or full-back in this country. He’s got to be on the pitch.’ 

Alexander-Arnold started England’s first two group games in midfield alongside Declan Rice before being dropped for the draw with Slovenia, with Conor Gallagher taking his place.

The Liverpool defender had been criticised for his performances against Serbia and Denmark. 

Neville was part of the coaching staff when England suffered a humiliating exit at the hands of Iceland in the last 16 at Euro 2016 and warned they were heading the same way if they did not dramatically improve in the second half.

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‘I was sat on the bench for the Iceland defeat eight years ago,’ he added. ‘This has got Iceland vibes all over it. It’s now or never for Gareth Southgate.

‘We’ve watch this now for three and a half games, we tried to be really positive pre-game thinking this is going to be the game. I don’t think it’s a case of one sub, two subs, I think he’s got to get three on the pitch. 

‘I think we’ve got to see Cole Palmer, we’ve got to see Trent, I think we’ve got to see Gordon. 

‘He’s got to shift the whole narrative around this game because that is not changing unless he does something, starting now.’

Despite Neville’s call for changes – and fans in pubs across the country undoubtedly urging Southgate to make substitutions – the England boss initially opted to stick with the same XI. 

Southgate finally introduced Palmer just after the hour mark to replace Kieran Trippier, forcing Bukayo Saka to move to left back.

Outsiders Slovakia took the lead in the 25th minute through Schranz’s neat finish following David Strelec’s superb pass.

It had come after a mix-up in the England defence which left Marc Guehi isolated and Kyle Walker stranded.

England thought they had drawn level early after making a bright start to the second half but Phil Foden’s goal was ruled out for offside.