Roy Keane insists Trent Alexander-Arnold is ‘not up to playing in midfield’ and claims ‘Declan Rice was left to BABYSIT’ the Liverpool star during England’s lacklustre draw vs Denmark

Roy Keane didn’t hold back when giving his verdict on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s midfield performance during England’s 1-1 draw with Denmark. He claimed the Liverpool star is ‘incapable’ of playing in the center of the pitch.

He also stated that Decland Rice, who was equally impressed in England’s Euro 2024 match on Thursday evening, should look after Alexander-Arnold in midfield.

Gareth Southgate has opted to start Alexander-Arnold in a more advanced position in both of England’s opening two games, substituting him for Conor Gallagher on both occasions.

Interestingly, Alexander-Arnold was England’s most creative midfielder on Thursday afternoon. He completed 88 percent of his passes while creating three chances for England, more than any other player on the pitch, according to Opta.

But Keane believes the right-back’s midfield experiment has been a disaster, with the ex-Man United star claiming Alexander-Arnold has ‘fallen short’ in England’s opening games.

“If you are eliminated in the two games; That’s not a good sign,” Keane told ITV Sport.

‘I always thought it was a big gamble to play against him, a player who doesn’t play [that position] week in, week out for his club. I know people say he’s coming to Liverpool, but taking a position and starting there is something else.

‘I have played in midfield, which is a difficult position. Physically, determining your distances… He fell short in the two games.

‘Now it’s not just him. You should probably put this on Gareth [Southgate]. It’s a huge gamble to throw a full back in the middle of the park. This is not against the French or the Spanish, where they have tougher tests ahead of them. This is against two teams we thought England would be quite comfortable against and have plenty of possession.

“It was a big ask for him and he can’t handle it.”

After the match, Southgate had bizarrely admitted that starting Alexander-Arnold in midfield for England was an ‘experiment’ as his side could not find a replacement for Kalvin Phillips.

Despite this, Ian Wright defended the Liverpool striker, claiming he had very few options in front of him as England’s strikers struggled to create chances in the final third.

“Can I just say on behalf of Trent if you’ve seen his ability at Liverpool and what he can do when he gets into those areas,” Wright began.

‘If you are going to play the way we have seen Liverpool play, he needs movement up front. There is no movement for him. Nothing happens for him.

“And when he goes to midfield, I hear what Roy says that it’s a different kind of discipline for him. But the fact is that he has no movement and he gets caught because he takes too long to make a decision.

‘I don’t think there was enough movement when Phil Foden came in, Harry Kane comes in deep. They come deep when we need him to stretch the game. [Bukayo] Saka is the only one going that way.”

Despite this, Keane again emphasized his point, stating that Alexander-Arnold had put Declan Rice under pressure in midfield.

Keane added: “We all talk in football about what you do when you have possession of the ball, but against the better teams it is very important what you do when you have possession of the ball.

‘That’s why he was thrown in at the deep end. OK, he’ll be comfortable on the ball and he can see a pass, there’s no doubt about that, but it’s the other parts of his game – Rice feels like he almost looks out for him there. You can’t do that at this level. You will be discovered.’