Former England captain Wayne Rooney says it is “unbelievable” that Trent Alexander-Arnold was not selected in Thomas Tuchel’s last squad before the national team boss is due to select his final World Cup team.
Alexander-Arnold has been a regular for Real Madrid since returning from a thigh problem in January, but was overlooked in England’s friendlies against Uruguay and Japan in March – despite Chelsea right-back Reece James being injured. Arsenal full-back Ben White started both games and scored England’s opening goal in the 1-1 draw with Uruguay.
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“No respect to Ben White – he’s a fantastic player – but for him to be in the squad and playing in front of Trent, it’s unbelievable,” Rooney said on his podcast.
– More defensemen up front
Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa were all preferred over Alexander-Arnold in Tuchel’s 35-man squad for England’s final home games before the World Cup. The former Liverpool star, who has been left out of Tuchel’s last four squads, has not played for England since coming on as a substitute in the World Cup qualifying win over Andorra in June last year.
However, Rooney’s former Everton teammate Phil Jagielka believes Alexander-Arnold deserves a place in the squad for the championship in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
“I think he’ll still be there,” Jagielka said.
“You need your best players. If he plays half as well as he did for much of his time at Liverpool, he is definitely worth taking on the plane.
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– James not the most defensive
Rooney would also start Reece James at right-back in the summer – despite referring to the 26-year-old as “unreliable” as a full-back.
“Reece James is not the most defensive,” Rooney said.
“When it comes to the players who are there, you wouldn’t say they’re the best defensively, any of them.
“O’Reilly needs to be better defensively”
At left-back, Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly and Newcastle’s Lewis Hall are considered the main candidates for the starting spot. O’Reilly has been brilliant for Pep Guardiola’s side this season, scoring nine goals and providing six assists in 50 appearances.
Jagielka admires O’Reilly, but believes the 21-year-old needs to improve defensively to become England’s first choice.
“I really like watching O’Reilly play, but he gets caught off guard defensively,” Jagielka said.
“He is not asked to play left-back when he is at Manchester City.
“I would pick O’Reilly right now, but there’s literally nothing separating him and Lewis.
Rooney: “Luke Shaw can defend”
Rooney says he would rather choose Manchester United’s Luke Shaw – England’s starting left-back at Euro 2021 and the World Cup in 2022.
“We don’t need our full-backs to be the most offensive. We need them to defend,” Rooney said.
Luke Shaw can’t attack as much now, but what he can do is defend.
Tuchel ‘still trying to figure out the squad’
Tuchel used experimental line-ups against Uruguay and Japan. Rooney admires Tuchel for using these games to take a closer look at the wingers, but believes that the former Chelsea manager should have already decided on the majority of the team.
“We have created pressure,” Rooney said.
“I like what Tuchel has done, but I still think that at this stage you should only have question marks over one or two players. It seems like he’s still trying to figure out the rest of the squad – and ten starting players.
England open the World Cup against Croatia in Dallas on June 17, before facing Ghana in Boston six days later. The final group game will be played against Panama in New Jersey on June 27.
