Gary Neville is convinced Trent Alexander-Arnold being dropped by England in favour of Djed Spence would have been questioned if the Real Madrid man was still at Liverpool.
Thomas Tuchel handed Tottenham full back Spence his Three Lions debut this week, as he came on in the 5-0 demolition of Serbia.
Chelsea’s Reece James started at right back, with the Spurs man coming on to replace him with just over 20 minutes to go. He was awarded his first ever cap by former Tottenham striker Harry Kane after the game.
But while Spence celebrated his long-awaited bow, former England defender Neville has been left puzzled by the lack of questioning around why other Three Lions defender Trent Alexander-Arnold was left out of the squad for this month’s World Cup Qualifiers.
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Thomas Tuchel dropping Trent Alexander-Arnold for Djed Spence ‘is a big thing’, says Gary Neville
Speaking on the Overlap’s Stick To Football, Neville said: “Trent Alexander-Arnold has been left out of the England squad by Thomas Tuchel and that’s a big thing I think. It’s not been highlighted as much as I thought it would be.
Discussing Tuchel’s comments on Alexander-Arnold needing to take the defensive element of his game seriously, he continued: “That is a massive criticism and we know that he is stronger attacking wise but Trent’s gone to Real Madrid and he’s now been left out of the England squad.
“Djed Spence has come in. Has that been highlighted enough in the last 10 days? If he was at Liverpool still and Djed Spence was getting in front of him, we would be like ‘what’s going on here?’ he’s at Real Madrid the biggest club in the world.”
Ian Wright countered that, and said Tuchel can’t pick players based off being at the ‘biggest club in the world’.
Neville then brought up Alexander-Arnold previously not being picked while Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier were above him in the pecking order, and said he understood that decision more when they could keep superstars such as Kylian Mbappe at bay. However, he doesn’t see why the ex-Liverpool man should be behind Tino Livramento and Spence, despite them both being ‘good players’.
Jamie Carragher thinks Thomas Tuchel wants to fire Trent Alexander-Arnold up to take regain spot
Former England and Liverpool ace Jamie Carragher thinks Tuchel will want Alexander-Arnold in his squad, but that it’s clear he wants him to earn it by boosting the defensive part of his game.
Following on from Neville’s point, Carragehr said: “It doesn’t matter what we say it, look at what the manager is saying and what’s important to him in a full back. He’s sending a message to Trent about being more serious with defenders. Think of the impact he’s had at Liverpool winning cups and leagues, some of the players you mentioned there, Livramento, Spence, they’re probably not going to get to that level.
“That’s not a criticism, I think they’re both very good full backs, I’m a big fan of Livramento. It’s probably Tuchel telling Trent ‘come on!'”
Alexander-Arnold has made 34 appearances for the Three Lions, scoring four goals in that time. He made his debut under Gareth Southgate in 2018, but Trippier was preferred in his position. He missed Euro 2020 due to injury, and made one appearance at the 2022 World Cup, before featuring more heavily at Euro 2024.
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