TRENT LOSS IS A BLOW
THE loss of Trent AlexanderArnold will hurt England because it reduces their offensive threat massively.
Yeah, yeah, I know he’s a defender. But he is one of the most creative outlets for Liverpool and I think that with the national team – and their reliance on set pieces as a major source of goals – he would have been even more important.
His delivery is elite level. There are few in the world better and when you look back at the World Cup in 2018, England were a big threat at set pieces.
I also believe that the best teams use their full-backs as an extra dimension of attack to break the rigid lines of defence we always see.
So Gareth Southgate may have to think out of the box to replace him.
Perhaps the next-best technical delivery in the larger squad came from James Ward-Prowse, but he was omitted from the 26.
If he selects him to replace Trent, can he find a way to get him in the team?
It’s a big question – and one the England manager will have to solve.
I THINK Everton’s next managerial appointment will be massive for the club – because they’ve had too many managers in a short space of time.
The next boss will be the sixth in five years and there’s no way they can have stability and a longterm project, as they always describe it, with such an incredible turnover at the top.
Nuno Espirito Santo has been mentioned as a strong possibility, but would he stick around for a long time? It didn’t end too well at Wolves, did it? And that will be an alarm bell.