Stephen Warnock told the Football Show on Sky Sports News (06/09/21 at 10:10 am) that Reece James is ‘more comfortable’ playing a midfield role for England than Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
On Sunday, Gareth Southgate opted to start Liverpool’s academy product in the middle of the park during England’s 4-0 win over Andorra.
In the second half, Chelsea’s very own academy star would then swap roles with TAA and move into midfield himself.
James has previous of playing that role, on the domestic stage, because he was used there by Paul Cook during his loan spell at Wigan.
And after both players got a taster of their new role on the international stage, this is what former Reds defender Warnock had to say, first of all, speaking about Alexander-Arnold.
“For me, it didn’t work,” said Warnock. “When you look at his statistics for the last three years or so.
“He has performed at the highest level. He has been so high in assists and goals. Why take him away from that position?
“He is better coming onto the game. Arriving later on. I think, in the first half, we saw a couple of moments where his passing range was showing. But we often see that from him in that right-back spot.
“I actually think it suited Reece James better going into centre midfield than it did Trent Alexander-Arnold because James has played there for Wigan and Chelsea as well.
“I think he is more comfortable in that position. For me, it didn’t really work.”
If Southgate is going down the road of wanting to try TAA in midfield then he has to do it on more than one occasion.
Whilst Poland aren’t one of the top, top nations, they are still a bigger threat and more experienced than what the Three Lions faced over the weekend – they face-off on Wednesday.
So, Southgate trying such an experiment against the Polish might not happen, but surely he has to think about it again down the line?
On the domestic scene, it’s probably pretty unlikely that Jurgen Klopp will be playing Trent in midfield, any time soon.
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