Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has suggested Trent Alexander-Arnold should start for the Three Lions at this year's World Cup - but should be dropped for matches against tougher opponents.
Much has been made regarding who Gareth Southgate should start at right-back in his side for the upcoming tournament, with the likes of Kieran Trippier, Kyle Walker, Reece James all battling with Alexander-Arnold for the same place.
Walker has tended to be Southgate's preferred option when selecting his sides and the Manchester City star may have seen his chances of game time in Qatar boosted by the poor start to the season suffered by Liverpool's right-back.
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Explaining how he would approach the full-back situation if he was in charge for the 2022 World Cup, Eriksson said "It's incredible how many good right-backs there are, you could almost close your eyes and pick one name. I remember during my time we had Gary Neville, or on the other side Ashley Cole, if they were not available it created a problem. But here if one or two right-backs are not available, you can easily put one in.
"I guess I’d start with Alexander-Arnold or Kyle Walker, one of them. Trent is a fantastic attacker of course, great crosses and a great right foot, extremely good right foot. As a defender, he's not the best in the world but of course if you play for Liverpool, attacking, attacking, they maybe don't need that.
On whether the Reds' No.66 should be playing a key role for England, Eriksson added: "I think it very much depends who the opponent is. For example, Brazil, where you will probably not have the ball as much, maybe then you put in one who is stronger defensively."
England are one of the favourites to go all the way in Qatar and enter the tournament on the back of reaching the final of Euro 2020. Italy, of course, prevailed on penalties to end the Three Lions' lengthy wait for silverware but Eriksson is optimistic the team can go one step further on this occasion.
"England can get revenge, for sure. I think Italy were stronger when they won the Euros than they are today. I saw the squad for Italy, there are a lot of players who, I'm not quite sure how good they are. What happened with Italy at Euro 2020 was incredible, they won it in style playing very good football, then they had a little bit of luck with the penalties," the Swede told BoyleSports World Cup Betting.
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