Jude Bellingham defended Trent Alexander-Arnold after his England teammate was criticised for his performance in their opening Euro 2024 fixture against Serbia.
The Three Lions kicked off their tournament on Sunday night with a 1-0 win thanks to Bellingham’s header in the first half.
While the Real Madrid star was impressive further forward, Alexander-Arnold partnered Declan Rice deeper in midfield but the Liverpool star was hit by a flood of criticism from fans and television pundits.
However, Bellingham, speaking to ITV Sport after the game, dismissed the negativity and instead highlighted what his fellow England international brings to the team.
He said: “He makes it so easy for me because he can control the game so well defensively in that position.
Alexander-Arnold started in midfield for England / Edith Geuppert – GES Sportfoto/GettyImages
“I know people talk a lot of rubbish but he’s so aggressive with that back to goal pressure and it really helped me as well because it meant I got a breather when he went out.
“I think we understand each other well with the ball, he wants to play positive all the time, he wants to play forward all the time. We accept as teammates who have that kind of quality that we are going to lose the ball and that’s fine.
“We will win it back for each other and we will keep playing. I thought he was brilliant.”
While Alexander-Arnold will hope to start in England’s next game against Denmark on Thursday, manager Gareth Southgate has a number of other options to choose from in central midfield.
Conor Gallagher replaced the 25-year-old after 69 minutes at Veltins-Arena, while Manchester United’s Kobbie Mainoo was also brought on for the closing stages in place of Bellingham. Adam Wharton is another alternative after his form following a January move to Crystal Palace earned him a place in England‘s 26-player squad.
The Three Lions take on Denmark on Thursday night and sit top of Group C after their upcoming opponents were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia.
