The former Manchester United and Ireland captain is on ITV this evening and spoke brutally and honestly about Liverpool and England’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The former Ireland Skipper said the following about the England midfielder;
When you’ve been taken off in the two games, that’s not a good sign. I thought it was always a huge gamble when you play a player who doesn’t play that (position) week in, week out for his club.
I know people say he drifts in there for Liverpool, but drifting into a position and starting there is completely different. I’ve played in midfield, it’s a tough position physically, getting your distances. He has come up short in the two games.
It’s not all down to him, you’d have to put this probably on Gareth [Southgate]. It’s a huge gamble to throw a fullback in the middle of the park.
This is not against the French or the Spanish, obviously they’ve got tougher tests ahead against the them or Germany. This was against two teams where you’d expect England would be fairly comfortable and have a lot of possession.
It’s a big ask for him and he’s not up to it…
When you talk about what you do in possession, it’s really important against the better teams what you do out of possession. That’s why he has been thrown in at the deep end. Okay he’s going to be comfortable on the ball, if you give him time he can see a pass, there’s no doubting that.
But it’s the other bits of his game. Even for [Declan] Rice, Rice feels like he’s almost babysitting him out there. You can’t do that at this level, you will be found out and he has been.
Quoted by balls.ie
"He's not up to it" – Roy Keane 🗣️
"He needs movement up front" – @IanWright0 🗣️Ian and Roy give their opinions on Trent Alexander-Arnold's midfield role for England 🏴#Euro2024 | #DENENG pic.twitter.com/rK6tuCgQrU
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) June 20, 2024