Gary Lineker has taken aim at Gareth Southgate for ‘hanging Trent Alexander-Arnold out to dry’, with the BBC Match of the Day host offering his sympathies to the Liverpool star over his ‘experiment’ in midfield.
Southgate has opted to play the Reds defender in an advanced position alongside Declan Rice in both of England’s opening two Euro 2024 matches – a tactical ploy that has attracted much criticism.
While Alexander-Arnold was statistically England’s most creative midfielder during their 1-1 draw against Denmark, the 25-year-old’s midfield experiment has drawn much scrutiny, with Roy Keane claiming the Liverpool defender is ‘not up to playing in midfield’.
While the Three Lions have already qualified for the knockout stages, reports from The Athletic claim that Alexander-Arnold ‘could now be dropped in place of Conor Gallagher’ for England’s final group-stage clash against Slovenia on Tuesday.
‘I do feel a bit for Trent Alexander-Arnold,’ the BBC Match of the Day pundit said on BBC’s Euros Extra show on Monday.
‘It’s very hard to play in a new position even when a team’s playing well.
‘But when a team’s struggling and a team’s disjointed, not together and not getting up the pitch, it becomes very difficult.
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‘I do feel for him because he’s an unbelievably talented player.’
Question marks have been raised over Southgate’s tactics so far during England’s Euro 2024 campaign, with Alexander-Arnold being substituted in both of England’s games against Serbia and Denmark.
Last week, Southgate had drawn attention for his comments claiming that Alexander-Arnold’s positional change was ‘an experiment’ before stating that England ‘didn’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips’ who was not included in the England manager’s squad to travel to Germany.
When asked about Alexander Arnold, Southgate said: ‘He’s had some moments where he has delivered what we thought he would.
‘We know it is an experiment and we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips, but we’re trying some different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like, that’s for sure.’
While the Liverpool star has played in a more advanced role under Jurgen Klopp over the past season, Wayne Rooney added that Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton would be better options for Southgate in midfield.
‘Yeah, I’ve been quite critical of Trent,’ the former Man United and Everton striker admitted, while speaking with Lineker on BBC’s Euro Extra show.
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‘I love Trent as a player as a full-back or as a right-back coming in at the right time but I think to play him in the middle of the pitch in international football, it’s so different to playing as a full-back.
‘I’ve said it many times, I wouldn’t have played him there. But he’s [Southgate] got [Kobbie] Mainoo, he’s got [Adam] Wharton.
‘For me, I play Jude [Bellingham] in the middle next to [Declan] Rice and you get your width with [Anthony] Gordon and [Phil] Foden.’
Lineker’s comments come after the BBC Match of the Day pundit produced a tongue-in-cheek response to criticism of his appraisals of England’s performances at Euro 2024.
During BBC’s coverage of Italy’s last-gasp draw against Croatia, Lineker said: ‘If Albania fail to win tonight, England are officially through to the last 16.
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‘Because even if they lose tomorrow they will go through as one of the best third-placed teams. I wish people would stop being so critical of them.’
The 63-year-old had branded their display against Denmark as ‘s***’ on The Rest is Football podcast. He had also called on Harry Kane to ‘do a lot better’ with the Bayern Munich star subsequently firing back at the broadcaster during a press conference.
Kane said: ‘I would never want to be disrespectful to any player, especially a player who has worn the shirt and knows what it is like to play for England.
‘But what ex-players or ex-players who are pundits now have got to realise is it is very hard not to listen to it now, especially for some players who are not used to it or some players who are new to the environment.
‘I always feel like they have a responsibility. I know they have got to be honest and give their opinion but also they have a responsibility of being an ex-England player that a lot of players look up to that people do listen to them and people do care what they say.
‘The bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time and a lot of these players were part of that as well and they know how tough it is, so it is not digging anyone out.
‘It is just the reality that they do know it is tough to play in these major tournaments and tough to play for England.
‘I would never disrespect any ex-player. All I would say is remember what it is like to wear the shirt and that their words are listened to. Some of the lads, I don’t know how many, but we do hear it.’