Virgil van Dijk questions Gareth Southgate’s use of Trent Arnold
Virgil van Dijk has said that he was shocked to see Gareth Southgate not utilize Trent Alexander-Arnold in the English national team’s last few games.
Despite a rocky start to the current season, Alexander-Arnold has never been able to maintain a regular starting position under Southgate and hasn’t even played for his nation since the 1-0 loss to Hungary back in June.
Alexander-Arnold has only been used as a substitute once in the Three Lions’ five games since that time, and on three other occasions, he was not even named to the matchday squad. Virgil van Dijk acknowledged the battle for the right back position in an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap, but he questioned how Southgate could entirely exclude Alexander-Arnold:
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“I was surprised to see Trent Alexander-Arnold not starting for England,” the Dutchman said of his Liverpool teammate.
“England are very lucky to have many talented right-backs, maybe everyone grew up wanting to be the next Gary Neville!
“They have Reece James and Kyle Walker, who are outstanding, but Trent should at the very least be in the squad. They play five at the back, which is a different role for him, but with his quality – if you give him the confidence he needs, he can be so valuable for England.”
Van Dijk wasn’t only supporting Alexander-Arnold; fellow center-back Joe Gomez was also
expected to make Southgate’s final World Cup roster: “I think England have so much quality, and some unbelievable players in Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Jude Bellingham,” Van Dijk added.
“Even Joe Gomez should go in my opinion – I try to help him play better. He was outstanding against Manchester City.
“He can also play in a back-five, on the left, in the centre or on the right. But in general I think England has some fantastic players.”
