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England defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has hit out at the ‘lazy’ critics who question his defensive abilities.
While the Liverpool full-back has earned huge praise for his attacking talents, he has often been criticised for his frailties at the back.
Both the media and rival supporters have been heavily scrutinising his lack of defensive awareness in recent times.
The right-back was handed his first World Cup minutes by England boss Gareth Southgate in the win over Wales. He played just over 30 minutes, coming off the bench for Kyle Walker.
England defender unhappy with ‘lazy’ opinions
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As reported by the Liverpool Echo, Alexander-Arnold has hit back at his critics. He believes they are nothing but ‘lazy’ opinions.
“I think it’s come to a point where it’s the lazy opinion, it’s the lazy thing to say,” said Alexander-Arnold.
“People who kind of just watch the game and see what they want to see, there’s that prejudice I believe now.
“You see what you want to see at the end of the day. If you’re going to a game and you have a perception that a player’s lazy and you see him once not running then in your mind he’s lazy. You don’t see the rest of the game where they’re running around, sprinting around.”
‘You’ve got to get on with it’
Alexander-Arnold’s club manager Jurgen Klopp has previously commented on the situation, defending his player and expressing his disbelief at the criticism.
At just 24 years old, the right-back has almost 250 Liverpool appearances to his name. And in that time, he has lifted the Premier League and Champions League trophies.
The Liverpool and England defender added that he is held to high standards by many, saying: “I suppose that’s where I feel like I’m judged with people going to games or people watch me play football with a preconception of ‘he’s not a good defender’ or ‘he can’t defend well’ so when I do have that one mistake or that one time someone gets past me then that confirms what they think.
“At times it feels like it doesn’t matter how well I do because if I’m not perfect then it’s not good enough and I’m held to standards that potentially other players aren’t held to, but that’s life. You’ve got to get on with it.”
England expected to start with Trippier
England topped Group B with two wins and one draw from their three matches, and now face Senegal in the Round of 16.
Alexander-Arnold faced an anxious wait over his place in the England 2022 World Cup squad, but his cause was perhaps helped by the injury to Chelsea’s Reece James.
Manchester City’s Kyle Walker had also been struggling with injury, but he was selected by Southgate, alongside Alexander-Arnold and Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier.
Arsenal’s Ben White meanwhile has since left Qatar due to personal reasons. Southgate still has plenty of options at right-back, but looks set to start Trippier in Sunday’s game with Senegal.
The Newcastle defender has featured in all three England games in Qatar so far, playing the entirety of the first two matches against Iran and the USA. He was then handed 25 minutes at left-back against Wales.
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