JOURNALIST MAKES CLAIM ABOUT SOUTHGATE AND ALEXANDER ARNOLD; ‘I SPOKE TO SOME PEOPLE AT THE FA’.
Speaking on The Red Agenda Podcast, Stuart James has shared what he’s heard about Gareth Southgate and Trent Alexander-Arnold from people within the FA.
Southgate and Alexander-Arnold have had something of a strange time together with England.
Alexander-Arnold is undoubtedly one of the best full-backs and one of the best players in the world, but he only has 16 international caps to his name and he was even left out of an England squad last year.
According to James, Southgate has long had visions of playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield, with this idea stemming back to his time with the U17s.
James shared what he knows about Southgate’s long-term plan with Alexander-Arnold.
“I spoke to some people at the FA, and they said that Southgate has known Trent since the U17s I think, and they said there were discussions early on about whether or not he could play in the midfield for his country. It goes back to what we were saying though, if he’s that good at right-back, why move him? It seems ridiculous to me,” James said.
James says that it sounds ridiculous to move arguably the best right-back in the world to midfield, but think about the depth England have in that position.
England want to have all of their best players on the pitch, and with Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier all being international-standard footballers, moving Alexander-Arnold does make sense.
He certainly has the skillset to play in the middle of the park, and if Southgate has had this plan since Alexander-Arnold was in the U17s, it’s worth a try.
