Stan Collymore has backed Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold on Twitter to offer Gareth Southgate an option in midfield after featuring centrally for England against Andorra.
But the former Three Lions centre-forward questions if Jurgen Klopp will be as interested in the positional change at Anfield. Even though he feels the 22-year-old has every technical and physical trait needed to play well in the engine room.
Alexander-Arnold had only played a central midfield role once in his senior Liverpool career before England’s World Cup qualifier. Klopp called on the Reds product to partner Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum for 65-minutes against Stoke in April 2018.
Alexander-Arnold also played an hour in midfield for England’s U17s in 2015, to further show how rare the role was. And the experiment only lasted 45-minutes on Sunday, before Southgate returned the Liverpool dynamo to full-back, exchanging with Reece James.
Collymore had backed Alexander-Arnold to perform in the Liverpool ace’s new role ahead of England kicking off at home to Andorra. As the ex-Reds striker believes the £180k-a-week defender only needs to work on one area to show his potential there.
“[Alexander-Arnold] can play in midfield, easily,” Collymore wrote. “Has every technical and physical attribute it’s possible to have. Just needs to get used to doing things quicker and more often. Big gear change if [Southgate] wants him to do it for England while [Klopp] may not be interested at [Liverpool].”
Should England persist with Liverpool defender Alexander-Arnold in midfield?
Despite Collymore backing Alexander-Arnold to perform in England’s midfield, Southgate saw enough in 45-minutes to return the Liverpool ace to right-back at the break. The 14-cap international struggled to find a rhythm in the centre, but was influential from defence.
His best moment from midfield was a free-kick in a promising position just before half-time that rattled the crossbar. Instead, Alexander-Arnold often appeared uncomfortable in a central three, but found his drive at full-back to cause Andorra problems.
It is debatable whether Southgate elects to continue the work in progress when the Three Lions visit Poland on Wednesday. England will want to maintain their 100% start to Group I against their second-placed rivals, so may favour the traditional than the experimental with Alexander-Arnold sticking to his natural Liverpool role, even with Collymore’s support.
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