Surely we can all agree that the Steven Gerrard vs Frank Lampard debate has run its course? It is high time that a fresh discourse centred around two positional rivals in the England squad begins. Trent Alexander-Arnold and Reece James, it is your time now. The baton has been passed.
If Liverpool played like a team hungry to make a statement against Arsenal after title rivals Chelsea had strolled to victory in Leicester, Alexander-Arnold looked a player hungry to steal James’ thunder after his right-back registered another assist at the King Power.
James’ assist – a square pass to N’Golo Kante who waltzed forward before smashing a drive into the net – took him to eight-goal involvements in the Premier League this season, four assists and goals apiece. The ageless Thiago Silva scooped the man-of-the-match award, but James certainly ran him close. For a few hours at least, the Chelsea man led the best English right-back debate.
By the end of the evening, Alexander-Arnold had put his case forward after a sensational showing in Liverpool’s 4-0 thrashing of Arsenal at Anfield. Initially, Arsenal did a reasonable job of containing their hosts, but once Liverpool lifted their tempo there was only going to be one outcome. Alexander-Arnold was as important as anybody in flicking the switch, advancing forward and pinning Arsenal’s rookie left-back Nuno Tavares deep inside his own defensive third.
Shortly after Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp’s heated verbal exchange had raised the volume inside Anfield, Alexander-Arnold had the supporters off their seats again after firing a left-footed missile towards goal that was magnificently tipped over by his international teammate Aaron Ramsdale. It was a temporary reprieve for the Gunners.
Moments later, Alexander-Arnold stood, hand on hips over a dead ball midway through Arsenal’s half and 15 yards in from the touchline. Up went the left-handed signal and in came the delivery, a devilish spinning cross that arced and curved through the air before reaching its intended target. Sadio Mane expertly headed it into the ground to beat Ramsdale’s despairing dive. It was a typically exquisite free-kick from one of the best set-piece specialists in English football.
It was at that point that Arsenal’s resistance began to gently ebb away. Liverpool were rampant from that point onwards, first Diogo Jota and then Mo Salah taking the game beyond Arsenal in a whirlwind spell after half-time. And then came the fourth, gift-wrapped by Alexander-Arnold for a gleeful Takumi Minamino at the far post. Again, it was an assist straight from the 23-year-old’s playbook, a pinpoint cut-back across the six-yard-box that left the goalkeeper helpless.
Those two assists took Alexander-Arnold to seven-goal involvements – six assists and a solitary goal – for the campaign, one behind James’ total. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, only Kevin De Bruyne (with 50) and Salah (40) have provided more Premier League assists than Alexander-Arnold (39). He is a playmaker masquerading as a right-back and he’s not the only one.
The days of full-backs sticking rigidly to their own halves and rarely, if ever, straying beyond the halfway line are long gone, but even so the attacking quality of right-backs this season has been astounding. With the exception of Salah, the Premier League’s best and most decisive player by a considerable margin, the three most in-form players in the division are all right-backs: Alexander-Arnold, James and Manchester City’s Joao Cancelo, who registered his fifth assist of the campaign with a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot ball for Raheem Sterling in a 3-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
Thankfully for Gareth Southgate, the last of those does not qualify to play for England. It’s hard enough as it is picking between Alexander-Arnold and James, which brings us back to the debate: which one should start the bulk of England’s matches in the lead up to Qatar 2022, or else is there a way in which the pair can be utilised in tandem without it coming at the expense of the team’s balance?
James has played as a right-sided centre back in a three-man defence to great success for Chelsea, including in last season’s Champions League final win, but putting him there restricts his attacking quality. Southgate has also experimented with Alexander-Arnold in central midfield, a decision that seemingly irked Klopp who questioned why one of the best right-backs in world football was being moved elsewhere.
Hopefully for England’s sake, Southgate stumbles upon a solution that gets two excellent players into his starting line-up without either losing the qualities that have made them so good in the first place. Otherwise, mentally prepare yourself for the prospect of hearing people endlessly debate which one is better for the next 15 years.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/32hlHW1
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