Gareth Southgate has said he believes that Trent Alexander-Arnold will become a quarterback at the heart of his England team, rather than a midfield metronome.
The Liverpool vice-captain, who usually plays right-back for his club, is learning a new role and has been talking to Southgate for the last year about operating in midfield.
And the England manager thinks Alexander-Arnold’s ability to play defence-splitting passes from a deeper role shows the type of midfielder he can be, rather than one who knits the game together with large numbers of short passes.
“I think he’s less likely to be a player who dictates tempo,” Southgate explained. “That’s a different type and probably midfield players who have been in there forever and really understand the flow of a game.
“What I do see is that range of passing and that ability to open up a defence that might be blocking spaces, defending low. He’s somebody that’s going to cause opposition players to be aware that we can play balls in behind them at any point with fantastic accuracy.
“His understanding of the game is good. All the defensive responsibilities we’ve asked of him, it’s not necessarily been where he’s played for many years but he’s been really diligent and open to wanting to take that on board. So, look, we know it’s a work in progress. We know it’s something that’s going to get a lot of attention as it’s not been the norm. But we feel it’s something that can add to what we’ve got.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold received mixed reviews for his performance in midfield against Serbia (The FA via Getty Images)
Southgate is likely to persevere with Alexander-Arnold in midfield when England play Denmark in Frankfurt on Friday.
He was criticised by Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag who, as a pundit on Dutch television, said after the win over Serbia it was “the vision of the manager” that he would defend a 1-0 lead by making the team compact.
But Southgate explained his decision to replace Alexander-Arnold, saying: “There was a moment where we weren’t in as much control of the game on Sunday as we would’ve liked, and we felt that was a good moment for Conor Gallagher to come into the game. He did the job.”
