‘What the hell’s going on?’ – Gary Neville left gobsmacked over Liverpool player at Euro 2024
Gary Neville has aired some strong opinions regarding one Liverpool player featuring at Euro 2024.
Despite England failing to impress in their opening two games of the tournament, Trent Alexander-Arnold was the only player dropped by Gareth Southgate for the starting line-up against Slovenia, with Conor Gallagher instead getting the nod in midfield.
The Chelsea man was taken off at half-time during the competition’s worst match so far, and speaking on ITV, the ex-Manchester United defender was left gobsmacked over the usage of the Reds’ vice-captain on international duty.
Neville raged: “I do want to mention Trent Alexander-Arnold. I know it’s a big boy’s game and you can be left out of a football match, but I do feel that this is the best right-back we’ve ever produced by a million miles in terms of in possession, and he’s now sat on the bench wondering ‘What the hell’s going on?’. He’ll probably be devastated.”
When even a staunch United disciple in Neville is fighting Trent’s corner, you know that Southgate is erring badly with his treatment of the Liverpool star.
The statistics are there to illustrate that the 25-year-old was the one man offering a creative spark to an otherwise turgid England team in their games against Serbia and Denmark, and he was unfairly made the fall guy for last night’s snorefest.
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Unfortunately for him, the Three Lions boss turned to Kobbie Mainoo as Gallagher’s half-time replacement, with the Reds’ vice-captain only thrown into the fray for a token six-minute cap towards the end of a truly awful contest.
Kyle Walker hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees so far at Euro 2024, aside from his run to help set up Harry Kane’s goal against the Danes, but Southgate’s innate conservatism and his loyalty to long-serving stalwarts makes it highly unlikely that he’ll axe the Manchester City right-back in favour of Trent.
It doesn’t take an elite football manager to see that Liverpool’s number 66 would give this England side a much-needed impetus with his exceptional creativity. If the Three Lions crash out in the next round and he’s left with a watching brief, the coach will have some explaining to do.
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