England name squad for Euro 2020: Did Gareth Southgate get tough calls right?

England manager Gareth Southgate has named the 26 players he hopes will end the nation’s wait for a major trophy that stretches back to the 1966 World Cup.

So did he get those major decisions right?

Alexander-Arnold gets the call

The selection – or otherwise – of Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was the most vexed question in the build up to Tuesday’s squad announcement.

It was a debate started when Southgate left the 22-year-old out of the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino, Albania and Poland in March, fuelled by the fact England are well blessed in the position where Alexander-Arnold excelled for Liverpool while they won the Champions League and Premier League.

In the end, Southgate included Alexander-Arnold as one of four right-backs in the squad, alongside Chelsea’s Champions League winner Reece James, Premier League title winner Kyle Walker from Manchester City and Kieran Trippier, a La Liga winner with Atletico Madrid.

It seems England’s squad is seriously over-loaded in one position and not a position that necessarily defines the destiny of big games.

Is Southgate’s reasoning that Alexander-Arnold is simply too good a footballer to leave behind, a player with the capacity to be a game-changer in an attacking context that does not apply to the others battling for the right-back slot?

His defensive qualities come under regular scrutiny but his deliveries from set-pieces, both in creating chances and scoring from dead-ball situations, are world class. He has a gift that has altered the course of big games.

This means Alexander-Arnold, even if he is not first choice, can be used further forward to fashion openings.

Four right-backs may seem too much (and probably is) but Alexander-Arnold’s all-purpose attacking ability makes his selection the right move by Southgate, who pointed out that James, Walker and Trippier have also proved their versatility in the past.

Agencies