The ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold can’t defend’ debate is the discourse that just won’t die, reignited by the former Liverpool star’s omission from the latest England squad.
England boss Thomas Tuchel raised eyebrows when he snubbed the Real Madrid right-back for World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia, instead opting for Tottenham’s Djed Spence, Chelsea’s Reece James and Newcastle’s Tino Livramento.
Explaining his decision, Tuchel said: “There’s no doubt I’m a big fan of Trent – for his talent and his personality. But for this call-up, I’ve gone with Reece James and Tino Livramento.
“He’s a great player who will always be in contention. I know he wanted to be here, which is very important. I just chose others due to competition.”
Naturally, Alexander-Arnold’s absence became a hot topic on the Stick to Football podcast. Jamie Carragher weighed in, linking the snub to Arne Slot’s comments before the 25-year-old left Anfield for Madrid on a free transfer.
The Liverpool boss said: “I’m not entirely happy with everything I saw from training. In my opinion, in certain moments, he could do a bit more, to say it mildly, and that’s what we talked about. I told him, ‘You’re a much better defender than everyone makes you out to be. Unfortunately, you don’t show it all the time.’”
Carragher called it “a little bit of a dig”, adding: “He sort of said something along the lines of, ‘If I’ll give Xabi Alonso a little bit of advice, you might need to push Trent in training a little bit.’”
After years of living in Kyle Walker’s shadow for England, Alexander-Arnold now finds himself battling Spence, James and Livramento for minutes, with Tuchel preferring players he trusts defensively.
Gary Neville admitted he could stomach Alexander-Arnold being benched for Walker at his peak, when he was keeping Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior in his pocket. But Livramento and Spence is a step too far.
“I think I was half-accepting of it when Walker was man-marking Mbappe and Vinicius out of games and he was flying three or four years ago,” Neville said.
“You think: ‘Ok, I get that one. Kyle is one of the best full-backs in the world’. You then had Reece James behind him and then you had [Kieran] Trippier who can play left and right-back so you were almost half buying into the idea of Trent being sub.
“Trent is now being left out for Livramento and Djed Spence. Let’s be clear.”
Carragher, though, was quick to defend the Newcastle man: “Livramento is a good full-back.
“It doesn’t matter what we say. Go back to that quote. What the manager is saying and what is important to him in a full-back and what he is thinking in the latter stages of tournaments.”
Carragher reckons Tuchel was sending Alexander-Arnold a message rather than closing the door completely.
“He is saying something you have been saying and what we have all said and maybe he is sending a message to Trent. He has got to be more serious about his defending,” he said.
“He is saying it there. You think of the impact Trent’s had at Liverpool with [Jurgen] Klopp and winning European Cups and leagues, some of the players you mentioned there – Livramento and Djed Spence – probably aren’t going to get to that level.
“That is not a criticism, I think they are both really good full-backs and I am a big fan of Livramento. It might just be a case of the manager saying: ‘Trent, I love you, but come on!’”