Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold has been warned that he faces a tough battle to resurrect his England career after failing to get any minutes in the recent international break.
Alexander-Arnold had been called up by Gareth Southgate for the Nations League games against Italy and Germany. But the right-back was left on the bench for the defeat in Rome before being dropped from the squad all together for the thrilling draw against Germany.
Instead, Reece James appears to have stamped his claim to be the starting right-back for the Three Lions. It leaves Alexander-Arnold facing a huge task ahead of this winter's World Cup, having been ruled out of the entire Euro 2020 tournament through injury.
Former Liverpool and England star Glen Johnson has now laid out the scale of the challenge that Alexander-Arnold is facing. Johnson warned the 23-year-old that he cannot afford to "sulk" about his situation.
"It's a kick in the backside, one moment he's starting for Liverpool every week but not for England every week. Of course there's kickbacks, but it's how good players respond," Johnson told Safe Betting Sites.
"Every player has had that moment whether they've been dropped for the club or dropped for the national side, it's how you bounce back. If he sulks and feels sorry for himself, then it's only going to get worse.
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"If he realises that he's got a lot of work to do to find his form, then I'm sure he'll be starting for England again very soon. It's probably about who we're playing against and how he wants the team to play. Reece James is the better all round player in that position.
"But Trent's got the amazing delivery and free-kick ability. I don't think it's anything that he doesn't like, it's just he prefers a more all-round solid player. Trent is great going forward, but they're both attributes that can be used against different teams."
Southgate has defended his decision to continually omit Alexander-Arnold from his team. And he insisted that the Liverpool star remained behind the likes of James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier in the pecking order for the Three Lions.
“I’ve had long conversations with all of them. I didn’t want any player to sit in the stand for two matches, so I think the way we manage a group of people has been a big strength for us in the tournaments and we need to do that,” Southgate said.
“The other night [against Italy], we didn’t need the left-back cover. Against Germany we did because of the way we went with the team so we needed Chilly [Ben Chilwell] on the bench and we had Kieran who, at the moment, I feel his all-round game is ahead [of Alexander-Arnold].
“They [younger players] have been through a lot and the psychology of it all is fascinating for us at the moment. Some young ones are actually handling it brilliantly and some are needing help and guidance.
“They will be thinking, ‘What is this?’. We have talked about how the shirt feels and they are experiencing for the first time a little bit what some of the older ones have been through in the past.”
