Speaking on the Wrighty’s House Podcast, Ian Wright has been expressing his sympathy towards Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold after reports emerged stating he may not go to the Euros.
Unfortunately for Alexander-Arnold, he’s not in Gareth Southgate’s plans at the moment with the England boss seemingly preferring the likes of Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James at right-back.
Wright says that it makes him angry that Alexander-Arnold is being overlooked, highlighting his cross for Alisson’s goal at the weekend as a reason he should be going to the Euros.
“Can we just talk about firstly, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ball in. You know the thing is, I really feel for him. Now the rumour is that he may not even go (to the Euros), even in the 26, you go back to 1999 and you need someone to take two corners and put them into the postage stamp for someone to score, and you have David Beckham,” Wright said.
“We’re talking about going to a Euros and it’s going to be tough, if you’re going to go far in the Euros you need moments, people who can come on and deliver a ball like that for us to nick a goal, and they need to put it where it needs to be.
“His cross was in the 95th minute, Alisson is in there, nobody is on him and he picks him out. How are we thinking about leaving this man out of the squad when he’s got that capability?”
Wright would again speak about Alexander-Arnold later in the podcast, saying:
“For us to completely write this guy off when we’ve seen what he’s capable of doing in massive moments, and what he’s capable of doing from right-back in these massive moments, it makes me so angry, it makes me sad and angry at the same time. This is why when you see him come back and do his stuff with his passes and crosses, he’s making someone like Gareth know that if he’s not in the squad, people are going to look at him and say ‘who’s going to put that ball in?’.
“We’re talking about somebody who, come on. I just hope it’s vicious rumours that he won’t make it.”
To be fair, Wright is spot on here.
Alexander-Arnold is a world-class talent, so the idea of him not going to the Euros is preposterous.
Fortunately, England do have a set-piece taker who can rival Alexander-Arnold in the shape of James Ward-Prowse, but he’s not been one of Southgate’s first choices either, so the Three Lions could probably do with Alexander-Arnold on the pitch, if only for his dead-ball delivery.
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