Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t play for England tonight having been left out of Gareth Southgate’s 23-man squad to face Germany.
England boss Southgate finds himself under increasing pressure ahead of the World Cup in Qatar.
Sport can be a ‘what have you done for me lately?’ industry and Southgate is absolutely experiencing that right now.
Forget the World Cup semi-final and Euro 2020 final, England look rudderless right now and Southgate has been met with boos of late.
Another defeat tonight would be disastrous for Southgate, but he’s making a bold decision on Alexander-Arnold.
Trent Alexander-Arnold won’t play for England tonight
Southgate named a 27-man squad for the games against Italy and Germany, dropping that down to 23 for the games themselves.
Jack Grealish drops out tonight through suspension but some decisions are raising eyebrows.
Sky Sports reporter Rob Dorsett claims that Fikayo Tomori, Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse are all being left out.
It’s crazy to us that Tomori – one of Serie A’s best defenders – hasn’t even been given a minute of action in these two games.
England are hardly blessed with top-drawer centre back talent so leaving Tomori kicking his heels is bizarre.
Yet the big call surrounds Trent Alexander-Arnold as Dorsett states that the Liverpool star won’t be involved against Germany tonight.
This seems to be a selection decision rather than anything injury-based, but it looks like bad news for Alexander-Arnold.
The Liverpool star continues to divide opinion.
Alexander-Arnold is such a weapon going forward, with his passing and crossing ability difficult for any player in the world to match.
That can give England and Liverpool so much going forward but his defensive issues are well-documented.
Teams continue to target Alexander-Arnold’s channel this season and have reaped huge rewards with that approach.
Southgate has never really seemed convinced by Alexander-Arnold and certainly seems to prefer Reece James, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker.
That means Alexander-Arnold is now on the outside looking in ahead of the World Cup, which will give mixed views at Anfield.
On the one hand, Liverpool want the best for one of their own and seeing Alexander-Arnold miss out on a second major tournament in 18 months would hurt.
On the other hand, Liverpool would be receiving a fresh Alexander-Arnold for the second half of the season – something few teams will want to come up against.
This latest snub could be the end of Alexander-Arnold’s World Cup hopes, but it’s not all bad news for Liverpool in that instance.
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