England manager Gareth Southgate has revealed how taken aback he was by Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold’s set piece prowess.
The 20-year-old has established himself as one of the finest crossers of a ball in English football, which was on evidence in England’s clash with Switzerland on Sunday.
Southgate has now lifted the lid: “He’s his own player,” he said, as per the Daily Mirror. “His technique for his crossing is fantastic. In training yesterday he wandered down the other end of the training pitch with a bag of balls, put one down. They had a wall up, he whipped it round the wall into the top corner then just walked off.
“So we said: ‘OK, a bit of pressure training’. He’s got great belief in his delivery. When he was taking his corners, actually, there was too much [whip] on them. But it’s a great asset to have.”
OPINION
Anyone who watched England’s clash with Switzerland on Sunday knows how fine a crosser of the ball Alexander-Arnold is. The Liverpool star was putting in peach after peach against the Swiss, only for his teammates to squander each and every one of his fabulous deliveries. We’ve seen this season just how dangerous the Three Lions international is, as he’s bagged a shedload of assists for Jurgen Klopp’s team. Obviously it’s gone pretty well in training, as well. It’s clear that the youngster works on his technique and spends time in training working on his deliveries. He seems pretty casual about it all, just curling a free kick in past the wall and then trotting away as if it were normal. That’s the sort of level-headedness that you get from Alexander-Arnold and is why he’s so highly regarded by both Klopp and Southgate. Now the Liverpool man must be installed as England’s first choice right back moving forward.
