Trent Alexander-Arnold is behind Kyle Walker and Reece James in the England pecking order, according to Darren Bent.
The former Premier League forward has taken aim at the Liverpool right-back, who has endured an indifferent start to the season. Alexander-Arnold was part of a back four that was regularly exploited in the defeat at Manchester United on Monday night.
Liverpool's academy graduate has enjoyed a rapid rise, developing at a rapid rate under Jurgen Klopp. His ability in the final third has been lauded and seen him hailed as one of the finest right-backs in the game. Bent, however, fears his shortcomings in defence cannot be ignored.
Walker and James are hugely-effective members of their backlines at Manchester City and Chelsea respectively. Bent sees that as a huge point of difference between the duo and the Alexander-Arnold, whom he suspects teams are out to target.
He said on talkSPORT : “Trent Alexander-Arnold, my goodness! Wow. People will keep banging that drum saying he’s better than James and Walker. Absolutely not. Offensively, I’ll give it to him. His range of passing, his distribution… but when you think of his distribution, it’s not that much better than James.
“Then look what James can do to certain wide players. Look what he did to Heung-min Son. Out of them three, Alexander-Arnold is the worst. Last [Monday] night, it was almost like Man United picked on him. They picked on him down the left side.”
Walker and James are seemingly ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the eyes of England manager Gareth Southgate, who has picked and dropped the Liverpool man during his tenure. There were major doubts as to whether the 23-year-old would be picked for the Euro 2020 squad, before he was selected and then injured in a warm-up game.
Klopp has previously praised Alexander-Arnold amid continued criticism of the defensive side of his game, insisting there is no problem. He claimed: “Absolutely, I don’t understand that, that’s true, but I don’t think I will change that with whatever I will say. But if he couldn’t defend, he would not play here – at least not that in that position.
"He improved in all departments and defending of course as well, but he is that young that he can improve and has to improve, but yes, his defending is not a problem we have.”
Alexander-Arnold has 17 caps for the Three Lions heading into this winter's World Cup in Qatar, where he will be battling for a spot against Walker, James and Kieran Trippier.
