Roy Keane blasted Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive ability following England’s 3-1 victory away to Finland in the UEFA Nations League.
Alexander-Arnold was among those criticised for his performance against Greece in mid-week, with Lee Carsley opting to use the Liverpool star at left-back for the Finland outing.
On the whole, Alexander-Arnold held his own in Helsinki and even popped up with a stunning free-kick to secure the three points 16 minutes from time.
But, it wasn’t enough to impress Keane, who still wants to see an improvement in the defensive department.
Reacting to Alexander-Arnold’s performance, the ex-Manchester United ace told ITV Sport: “When you give time to Trent, his decision-making and the quality of his passing is fantastic.
“But I can’t believe how bad he is defensively. Against better teams of course he will be found out.”
Ian Wright, who was alongside Keane and Mark Pougatch in the studio, was less critical, with the ex-Arsenal star saying: “I don’t think there’s much he did defensively to say that’s a position [left-back] he’s going to play often.
“But from a creative point of view, you can see Lee Carsley wants as many creative players in the deep end of his football team to create. Trent is one of those he believes ‘yeah I can play him on the left’. I can’t see it happening too frequently.”
He added: “But at the same time, offensively, it was his pass that led to Angel Gomes’ showing his bit of quality [with the assist for Jack Grealish’s opener] we saw his bit of quality there too [with the free-kick].”
Unsurprisingly, Carsley was full of praise for Alexander-Arnold, insisting England are a better team with the 26-year-old in the side.
On Alexander-Arnold, Carsley said post-match: “I think Trent’s qualities speak for themselves. I don’t see it that I’ve found a place for him, he’s more than earned a place.
“We do get bogged down with left-back or right-back, where’s his position? But as long he’s in effective positions, it’s great to have him.”
The ex-Ireland international continued: “I think it’s important we’ve got players with that quality and play to their strength and we definitely do that with Trent.”
It comes after a frustrating summer for Alexander-Arnold, who was primarily used as a midfielder by Gareth Southgate during England’s Euro 2024 campaign.
Alexander-Arnold will have another chance to prove his worth in an England shirt next month when Carsley takes charge of the third and final international break before the new year.
England will likely have to travel to Athens and take three points off Greece if they’re to be promoted back to League A of the Nations League.
The 1966 World Cup winners wrap up their Nations League campaign at home to Ireland in mid-November.
