England Must Drop Trent Alexander-Arnold And Foden – Carragher

Liverpool legend, Jamie Carragher has come out to say that Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden will have to be sacrificed for England to play better. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, even if Southgate trying out certain experiments with star players is completely understandable in his opinion, it is clear that introducing Trent in midfield in a major tournament is a risk that isn’t worth taking anymore.

Carragher added that nobody loves Foden than him, but the youngster just cannot play alongside Bellingham and Kane.

His words, “The side selected for the Serbia and Denmark games looked good on paper. It is understandable that Southgate did what he did. I will not rewrite history and criticise it retrospectively. It was worth a try and he was justified in sticking with it for one more fixture. It was a new line-up and the players needed a second chance. The manager wanted to get as much class on the pitch as possible at the same time, and like many of us was drawn to the positives in the opening win in the hope the flaws would be ironed out.

Unfortunately, two of the best Premier League footballers – Trent Alexander-Arnold and Phil Foden – will have to be sacrificed now. The team’s set-up is not getting the best from them, or their team-mates.

Introducing Alexander-Arnold into midfield in a major tournament was always a risk. It has not worked. The experiment ended with his early substitution against Denmark. It is a more physically demanding position than full-back, and, on the evidence so far, Alexander-Arnold has more time and space to utilise his passing range when he is in the hybrid role.

He delivered the best pass of the game to Bukayo Saka just before he was subbed, but there is an irony that when he plays in his natural position, we see four or five of those in a game.

Elsewhere in the side, nobody loves watching Foden more than me. But for England to come up with a system that works and complements everyone, he cannot operate in the starting XI with Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane if they are all trying to occupy the same space and positions.”

WOW.