Former England international Paul Robinson insists he has ‘no concerns’ over Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold despite his patchy display for his country on Sunday.
The 21-year-old had the odd tricky moment defensively in the Three Lions’ 4-0 victory over Kosovo, but Sky Sports pundit Robinson feels there are no serious problems there.
“He was up against Kosovo’s left-back and I thought he was the only threat they had, he was a good player and he exposed Trent a couple of times last night,” he told Football Insider.
“But with [Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain in front of him, he’s not going to get the defensive cover he normally gets as the Ox is probably more attack-minded, and when he has got attacking players charging down the left side at him, he is going to get exposed. I thought last night it wasn’t his best night in an England shirt, but I have no concerns about his form.”
OPINION
Robinson’s right that the Kosovo game wasn’t Alexander-Arnold’s finest outing for his country. The Liverpool man was left on his own a few times defensively and, while he did alright, he wasn’t lights-out spectacular. Nor did we see the glittering attacking play that the youngster has made his trademark in recent years. The statistics show that Alexander-Arnold was slightly below-par on Sunday. As per WhoScored.com, he failed to produce a tackle, interception or block, the only outfield England starter not to achieve at least one of those. He did provide two clearances, though, but his relative struggles were reflected in his WhoScored rating of 6.61. That’s not a woeful rating, but it shows that he wasn’t quite at his scintillating best. As Robinson says, though, he didn’t get much defensive support from Oxlade-Chamberlain, while he was hampered by what was a lacklustre England performance for much of the game.
