Gareth Southgate has dropped the biggest hint yet that he is ready to carry his Trent Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment into Sunday’s Euro 2024 opener, insisting: ‘It’s worth it - he could be incredibly special’.
England take on Serbia in their first Group C match in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, with Southgate facing two significant selection dilemmas.
One of those - over who plays alongside John Stones at centre-back - has been sprung on the England boss late in the piece following Harry Maguire’s failure to recover from a calf injury, but the debate over who partners Declan Rice in midfield has been raging for months.
Southgate has long been toying with the idea of using Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder. He has trialled the ploy on a number of occasions over the last year but crucially missed out on the chance to do so against top opposition when the 25-year-old missed March’s friendlies against Belgium and Brazil through injury.
Throwing him in against a dangerous Serbia side in the opening game of a major tournament would be a risk, and former England striker Wayne Rooney was critical of the idea this week, claiming Alexander-Arnold “can’t defend” and insisting: “I wouldn’t have him anywhere near the middle of the pitch.”
“Everybody’s more than entitled to opinions,” Southgate said of Rooney’s comments. “That’s our world, we have to accept that. Then we have to go and show what we can do.
“I’m really happy, I spoke to Trent about playing in this role just over a year ago now. It’s something he’s been really keen to do, he’s been really receptive to every bit of feedback and information he can.”
For all Alexander-Arnold’s talent on the ball, and in particular his range of passing, there are concerns both over his inexperience in the role and over his defensive qualities more generally, whether playing in midfield or at right-back.
However, while Southgate did not confirm whether the Liverpool man will get the nod in Gelsenkirchen this weekend, he believes any risk over Alexander-Arnold’s selection would be worth taking.
“We know he can be a really special player and equally we know it’s not something he’s been doing for the last five years,” Southgate added.
“So, there is an element of the unknown to it but I think it’s an opportunity worth grasping because he could be something incredibly special.”
