Wayne Rooney called Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from England’s recent squads “mind-boggling” and said he would start Reece James at right-back for the World Cup, Rooney said on the BBC’s Wayne Rooney Show.
The report says Alexander-Arnold was left out of England’s March squads to face Uruguay and Japan despite playing more this year for Real Madrid, while first-choice James missed out because of injury. Ben White was recalled from a self-imposed exile and started both friendlies, scoring against Uruguay, per the report, in Thomas Tuchel’s final squad before he selects his group for this summer’s World Cup.
The report notes Alexander-Arnold has not featured for England since a second-half substitute appearance in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra 11 months ago. It adds he initially struggled after swapping Liverpool for Real last summer but, after overcoming a thigh problem in January, the 27-year-old has been a regular starter at the Spanish giants.
Tuchel said in November that Jarell Quansah was ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order and Tino Livramento has also deputised at full-back for England more recently, the report says. Rooney acknowledged Ben White as “a really good player” but reiterated he found it surprising that White would play ahead of Alexander-Arnold.
Rooney described James as “unreliable” because he has been out since mid-March with a hamstring problem but maintained the Chelsea defender is best suited to the right-sided England role. Rooney said he would pick James alongside Harry Maguire, Marc Guéhi and Luke Shaw in England’s back four and argued full-backs should prioritise defending rather than bombing forward, adding that England already have attacking ability up front and that the players currently in the squad were not necessarily the strongest defensively.
