Roy Keane told ITV Sport (05/09/21 at 4:45 pm) that players have to be able to ‘adapt’ after he reacted to Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold being selected in midfield for England.
In general, the outspoken TV pundit thinks the Liverpool man has the ‘quality’ in his passing to play such a key role, but he made it clear that there are still ‘question marks’ over his defending.
If that’s the case then a midfield role should suit the 22-year-old because, if he plays with a defensive mind next to him, then he can showcase more of his attacking talent.
During England’s pretty comfortable 4-0 World Cup qualifying win against Andorra yesterday, he wasn’t able to show that.
But this is how Keane reacted when he was told about Trent’s midfield role before the game.
“What we have seen with Trent over the last few years, there are question marks over his defending,” said Keane.
“But when he has time on the ball then he is like a midfielder in there. The quality of his passing. The decision-making.
“As a professional footballer, you have to be able to adapt and play in one or two positions.”
Given that Alexander-Arnold was pushed to right-back in the second half of yesterday’s game then that says a lot about his performance.
It wasn’t exactly stand-out-from-the-page worthy, but surely there are more opportunities to come?
Gareth Southgate has an array of right-backs to pick from, with Kyle Walker able to play in a back three and Kieran Trippier being able to deploy a left-back role.
Perhaps if TAA is provided with more chances then he might just thrive in the middle of the park.
Although, it seems as though Jurgen Klopp won’t be providing him with that chance on the domestic circuit.
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