Former England captain Wayne Rooney has described Thomas Tuchel’s decision to leave Trent Alexander-Arnold out of the squad for the final pre-World Cup friendlies as “mind-boggling,” especially given Reece James’ injury absence.
Alexander-Arnold, who has been a regular for Real Madrid since returning from a thigh issue in January, was omitted from the March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan. Arsenal’s Ben White started both matches, scoring in the 1-1 draw with Uruguay, which left Rooney bewildered.
“No disrespect to Ben White — he’s a fantastic player — but seeing him selected ahead of Trent is mind-boggling,” Rooney said on his podcast.
Tuchel named a 35-man squad for England’s last home friendlies before the World Cup, with Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Tottenham’s Djed Spence, and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa all picked over Alexander-Arnold. The former Liverpool star has not featured for his country since a brief appearance off the bench in a World Cup qualifying win over Andorra in June last year, and has been left out of Tuchel’s last four squads.
However, Rooney’s former Everton teammate Phil Jagielka believes Alexander-Arnold still has a strong case for a World Cup spot. “I think he probably makes it — you need your best players. If he proves he can play at the level he showed for most of his time at Liverpool, he’s definitely worth taking on the plane. If Reece James is fit, you put him in at right-back,” Jagielka said.
Rooney would also start James at right-back this summer, despite labeling the 26-year-old “unreliable” defensively. “Reece James isn’t the most defensive, but honestly, none of the options are great defensively either,” Rooney added.
On the left side, Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly and Newcastle’s Lewis Hall are seen as frontrunners for the starting spot. O’Reilly has impressed with nine goals and six assists in 50 appearances across all competitions, while Hall has been a standout for Newcastle in a difficult season, playing 44 games and helping the Magpies reach the Champions League last 16.
Jagielka admires O’Reilly but thinks the 21-year-old needs to improve defensively. “I really enjoy watching him, but he gets caught out of position. He’s not asked to play left-back at Manchester City. Right now, I’d go with O’Reilly, but there’s barely anything between him and Lewis Hall,” he said.
Rooney, meanwhile, would prefer Manchester United’s Luke Shaw, England’s starting left-back at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. “We don’t need full-backs to be ultra-attacking; we need them to defend. Keep the balance and let the attackers win games. Shaw can’t attack as much now, but he can defend,” Rooney explained.
Rooney also noted that Tuchel is still experimenting with the squad, having used Phil Foden as a false nine against Japan in the absence of injured captain Harry Kane. He praised Tuchel for taking a close look at players ahead of the World Cup.