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Steven Gerrard said he was surprised by England coach Gareth Southgate’s decision to remove Trent Alexander-Arnold from the team for their World Cup qualifiers and described the Liverpool defender as “the best English right-back in the country” .
Alexander-Arnold was left out of Southgate’s 26-man squad last week for this month’s 2022 World Cup qualifying matches against San Marino, Albania and Poland.
The 22-year-old has been a regular on the England squad since breaking into the squad ahead of the 2018 World Cup, but Southgate said his form had cost him his place.
– World Cup Qualifiers on ESPN +: Stream LIVE games, replays
– FC 100: Alexander-Arnold top ranked in the world in 2020
Southgate has a host of options as a right-back and has named Manchester City’s Kyle Walker, Atletico Madrid’s Kieran Trippier and Chelsea’s Reece James for the upcoming games.
Rangers coach Gerrard, who spent 17 seasons at Liverpool as a player, said the defender needed support to get back on track.
“I think Trent is the best English right-back in the country,” former England midfielder Gerrard told British media.
“One thing I’ve learned from being a player is that you can’t always be 10 out of 10. When you go out, you need that support, love and attention from your coach more than anyone else.
“I was surprised by the decision, but that is my opinion and my opinion is not important in this. Gareth Southgate makes the decisions there. I don’t necessarily agree with that decision, but I am not the England manager.”
On the other side of England’s defense, Ben Chilwell has said that he hopes his move to a full-back position at Chelsea could increase his chances of being included in the starting lineup for this month’s playoffs.
Chilwell has thrived with new Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel, who has deployed a 3-5-2 formation with Chilwell playing as a left back instead of his usual position on the left side of all four defenders.
“If you look at the formation that England is playing, the formation that we’re playing here right now [at Chelsea] it gives us the best possible chance to get used to playing in the positions England want us to play in, “Chilwell, who was named as part of Southgate’s 26-man squad, told British media.
“Hopefully that gives us a good chance going into the summer that we can be used.”
England host San Marino on Thursday before playing Albania away on Sunday and at home against Poland on March 31 in the playoffs.
The former Leicester City defender said he was also looking forward to competing against Manchester United’s Luke Shaw for a place on the Euro team in June.
“Going into the Euro, if Luke and I are fighting and trying to show who is having the best club form in the tournament, that’s only positive,” he said.
