Former Premier League striker Noel Whelan has admitted he was baffled by England manager Gareth Southgate’s decision not to start Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold recently.
Kieran Trippier was preffered to the 21-year-old for both the games against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, despite the Reds star’s impressive start to the season. BBC pundit Whelan was very confused.
“I can’t believe it,” he told Football Insider. “Kieran Trippier is a fine right-back and is playing regularly at a big club but Alexander-Arnold is on a different level. He’s one of the best in the world.
“He is an exceptional talent, an astonishing player. He is young and makes mistakes, but he is fearless. That is a great quality for someone so young playing at such a high level. He would be first on the team sheet, for me. I’m stunned he’s on the bench. The Premier League is also a tougher league than La Liga and he is better than Trippier. You have to look at the fact he is starting every game for the European champions who have won every match this season”
OPINION
It was bizarre to see that, after Tripper was given the start against the Czech Republic, the Atletico Madrid man was once again selected against Bulgaria. Now, the 29-year-old is a good player has and started the season well over in the Spanish capital, but Alexander-Arnold is one of the best players for the European champions. Plus, at just 21 years of age he is the future, not somebody who is approaching 30. Furthermore, when you look at the statistics from this campaign, Alexander-Arnold is doing much better than the former Tottenham Hotspur star. As per WhoScored.com, the Liverpool man is currently averaging 1.5 interceptions, three clearances and 0.3 blocks to Trippier’s tallies of 1.3, 0.1 and 0.1 respectively. Alexander-Arnold’s average WhoScored rating per outing this season is 7.38, clearly superior to the Atletico man’s 7.15. With that said, this was a bizarre call from Southgate.
