Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has discussed whether Trent Alexander-Arnold should start for England at the upcoming Qatar World Cup.
The tournament will take place disrupt the traditional domestic football schedule across Europe and will take place across November and December.
There has been a long-standing debate about who Gareth Southgate’s best right-back is with the likes of Reece James, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker all competing with the Reds star for a spot in the Three Lions starting XI.
Eriksson has now told the England boss that Alexander-Arnold should start for his country at this year’s tournament, but believes the Scouser should be dropped when coming up against tougher opponents.
“It’s incredible how many good right-backs there are, you could almost close your eyes and pick one name,” the Swede told BoyleSports World Cup Betting (as quoted by the Liverpool Echo). “I remember during my time we had Gary Neville, or on the other side Ashley Cole, if they were not available it created a problem. But here if one or two right-backs are not available, you can easily put one in.
“I guess I’d start with Alexander-Arnold or Kyle Walker, one of them. Trent is a fantastic attacker of course, great crosses and a great right foot, extremely good right foot. As a defender, he’s not the best in the world but of course if you play for Liverpool, attacking, attacking, they maybe don’t need that.
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“I think it very much depends who the opponent is. For example, Brazil, where you will probably not have the ball as much, maybe then you put in one who is stronger defensively.”
Alexander-Arnold is often criticised for his defensive ability and his start to the season for his club side has been far from convincing.
His performance against Napoli in the Champions League earlier this month was extremely concerning but his ability to turn defence into attack with a single pass is what makes him one of the best full backs in the world.
His crossing ability sets him apart from the rest and it’s clear that Jurgen Klopp’s side aren’t quite the same when he’s not in the starting XI.
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Southgate’s side were defeated in the final of Euro 2020 on penalties by Italy last year.
The Three Lions are expected to go one step further this time around in the sweltering heat of Qatar – something that Eriksson believes has the potential to happen.
“England can get revenge, for sure. I think Italy were stronger when they won the Euros than they are today. I saw the squad for Italy, there are a lot of players who, I’m not quite sure how good they are. What happened with Italy at Euro 2020 was incredible, they won it in style playing very good football, then they had a little bit of luck with the penalties,” the Swede added.
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