Trent Alexander-Arnold vs Chelsea:
110 touches
2 clearances
2/2 tackles (100%)
3/5 ground duels won
5/7 long balls completed
5 chances created
1 big chance created
I'll never understand this weird English mentality that Lineker is from that whenever there's a superior English talent, they want him in midfield.
It was madly the same with Beckham, who's a nice comparison as Trent's the best crosser of a ball the PL's seen since him. And they wanted to take the one thing that made Beckham so special and unplayable away and move him inside into a congested area where he'd have been exceptionally limited against his skill set. Stevie Gerrard. Devastating playing off a striker with a free role to go cause as much havoc as he wanted. They wanted him in a structured central midfield role. The list goes on and on and on. And now they want to do the same with Trent.
Yeah, let's move a generational talent, who's effectively a right-sided playmaker with vision, passing ability and numbers to back it up that rival De Bruyne, one of the PL's all-time best creative playmakers, which Trent is doing from
RIGHT FULL BACK where he has the whole picture ahead of him to be whatever you want him to be/ do down that right-hand side; inside into a congested area you get no time on the ball and everything ahead of you is condensed.
It's the same ***-backwards logic that doesn't have him down as the first name on England's team sheet. They haven't a clue what to do with the most talented player they possess who completely runs a game of football from right full, whilst being a ****** good defender to boot. (That myth that Trent can't defend
SERIOUSLY needs to stop.). Southgate, in the mad English way, needs to bracket a FB as a FB and a winger as a winger in front of him. He can't comprehend someone who does it all and is the best in World football already at what he does. At 22-years-of-age. Oh yeah, and now he's showing he can
completely F with opponents heads by coming inside when he chooses and wreaking havoc there. I just don't know how you game-plan or even attempt to pick Trent up? Does the FB go to him? Your right mid? The winger drop back as forget the space behind him, if Virgil hit's him over the top you are proper F! But I know I've NEVER seen a player, at least in England, from FB who is a genuine threat to create or score EVERY TIME he has the ball within 40/50 yards of the opponent's goal.
This outdated, perochial, limited view on things that prevails among English clubs/ fans is just utterly mad. Foreign clubs/ Nations have been using their FB's as their main attacking outlets for years. Trent is literally doing what Cafu and Roberto Carlos revolutionised the game with for Brazil.
Why on earth would anyone want to move him from where nobody on the planet can touch him?
I just don't get it?