Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield: should Liverpool full-back take on a new...

That was a suggestion from Sky Sports Expert Jamie Redknapp after seeing James shine as a right-back on his country debut despite England suffering a disappointing 1-0 loss to Denmark at Wembley on Wednesday.

Alexander-Arnold watched the defeat from the stands after playing 79 minutes in the international break and failing to do his best in the right full-back against Belgium.

While England has a large talent pool in this position as full-back and full-back, it has been criticized that there is a lack of inventions in the central midfield. Southgate selected Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips as midfielders against Denmark.

Redknapp believes Alexander-Arnold, who played in central midfield as a youth team player, has the qualities to step in and believes the 22-year-old could hold positions similar to Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.

“I’m throwing one out of here now. What if we played Trent Alexander-Arnold in that midfield position? Bring him to the right side. ” [of the two central midfielders]. He could easily play there, “said Redknapp.

“I’m redesigning the team: you could play Declan Rice in the back, Reece James on the right [wing]-back, Trent da.

“I think bring him to the right with his quality, his defense, his sportiness. Then you can get both [Alexander-Arnold and James] in the team.

“What I want to see with this English team is to get good players in central positions.

“In this position, Kevin De Bruyne works in this area because he knows that there is a room in which someone like him can work his magic.

“Because he has such a good brain, Trent, he could play there. Right-backs are now smart enough to play any position on the field. They see the cross, they can also see the passport. ”

Not suitable for wingback?

Redknapp cited Philipp Lahm and David Alaba as examples of full-backs who have succeeded in midfield, arguing that the role of a full-back is different from that of the right-back.

“With Trent’s ability as a right-back, it may not suit him as a right-back,” said Redknapp.

“I spoke to Ashley Cole the other day and said, ‘I’m sure you would have loved to play as a full-back’ and he said, ‘No, I wouldn’t have liked it. I wanted to get into things later. ‚

“He’s such a good footballer, I’ve seen him play centrally for Liverpool at times. You can play it anywhere.

“When you think of Alaba when he played for Bayern Munich and Lahm when he played central midfield.

“We don’t have that many good players in this central midfield position. I think you could try that and it could work. ”

Scott: James and Alexander-Arnold can push each other forward

fellow Sky Sports Expert Alex Scott, who won 140 full caps for England Women as a right-back, agreed that the challenges faced by full-backs and full-backs are different, but used the example of Lucy Bronze as a player who excelled at right-back but was fighting for the lead same effect in midfield.

She believes James’ performances can elevate Alexander-Arnold’s level as well.

“That’s a tough question,” she said. “It actually happened with the English women’s team with Lucy Bronze. The best right-back in the world.

“Lucy Bronze moved into midfield and not working. She was fine in midfield but you have a world class right-back and she’s just fine in the game.

“As a right-back I knew I had the place in front of me. I knew when to do these runs on it. So when you move around it’s a completely different game whether you have to play with your back to receiving things around the corner.

“Actually, I think the best thing is that they push each other to get even better and take themselves to another level.”