Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has given his views on Trent Alexander Arnold’s omission from Gareth Southgate’s England squad.
In his press conference ahead of the Reds’ match against Brighton in the Premier League this weekend, Klopp was quizzed about Alexander Arnold’s England snub.
Southgate named the Liverpool right back on the bench against Italy but did not bring him on, for the game against Germany, Alexander Arnold was dropped from the match day squad all together, sparking fury from Liverpool fans and casting doubt over the 23-year-old’s participation in the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
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When asked for his views on Southgate’s decision, Klopp said: “Do you really want to open this box? I mean it.
“You’re an English journalist, and we can now discuss selections, whatever, until the World Cup starts, it’s one of the reasons why you make massive stories of these kind of things, why the team cannot prepare properly.
“If you ask me for my honest opinion, it will create headlines, that’s clear.”
Klopp added: “You want that? It helps Germany, maybe, I’m not sure, but it doesn’t help England. I don’t know why we do that.
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“It’s a situation – a manager picks a player or not, which I would decide, obviously, differently but I’m not in charge of this team and that’s the way it is.”
The Liverpool boss then defended Alexander Arnold, stating that he is a good defender after there have been talks about the full back’s defensive qualities this season.
Klopp said: “There are stories out there all the time, people talk about him saying he’s not a good defender, that’s not true, he’s a good defender. He doesn’t defend always good, that’s true as well, that’s what we’re working on, he’s a young player, he’s 23, and there’s space for improvement, definitely.
“But I think really we only discuss it on the level we discuss it because his offensive impact is extreme for us, it could be for each team in the world I would say.”
The German continued: “So from my point of view, whichever team I would coach in the moment, I would sign him because he’s exceptional. Is he always exceptional? No. But I’ve never met a player who’s always exceptional.
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“So that’s it now. The rest is now Gareth’s job to find a team. England are obviously blessed with a lot of really, really talented players in a similar position and it’s difficult to line them all up together.”
Klopp then alluded to the fact that both Alexander Arnold and Reece James can play together in the same team.
He said: “In this specific case it could work because Reece James can play in a three at the back, he did that for Chelsea pretty well. It’ll be interesting to see how they could interchange position, it depends on how you play with three at the back, if you keep them deep then it’s a different story but if you want them to be involved in offensive situations then Reece James, even as a centre-back, would be involved in that. All these kinds of stuff, it’s tactical stuff, not too interesting.
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“But again, it’s Gareth’s decision. He made a decision, again, all I can really say is I see it differently, but that doesn’t mean it’s right or wrong.”
Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Sky SportsTopics: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool, England, Gareth Southgate
