Jamie Carragher also suggested that he has had suspicions “for a while” that Trent Alexander-Arnold had a “fight” on his hands to make it to the Euros.
The defender made his first-team breakthrough for Liverpool during the 2016/17 campaign. He played 12 times for them that year before he established himself as their first choice right back the season after.
Over the past couple of years, Alexander-Arnold has been one of the leading full-backs in world football.
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Along with Liverpool, the defender’s form has dipped this season. This has led to him being dropped from Gareth Southgate’s England squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Tripper have been picked ahead of him. Carragher told The Independent that Southgate’s decision could do Alexander-Arnold good:
“Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from the England squad is no surprise to me. I’ve had my suspicions for a while that the Liverpool defender is in a fight to make it to the European Championship.
“Southgate has never seemed convinced Alexander-Arnold suits England’s system, or to be more specific how often he likes to switch between a back four and three centre-backs.
“Southgate does not want a playmaker at right-back. He wants a traditional right-back or wing-back.
“He won’t feel this way today, but Southgate’s decision can do him more good than harm. It will give his career a jolt and force him to work on those defensive areas which need improvement. Because they do. He has no better manager in the world to turn to than Klopp to guide him through that.
“Trent is a fantastic player – one of the best young talents in European football, let alone the Premier League. This feels like one of those moments he will look back upon as firing him up to unlock more of his incredible talent.
“Being left out of the next few England games is no more than a bump in the road in a career which has already hit the greatest heights at club level. He will be back in an England shirt soon enough.”
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