Graeme Souness has edged towards Chelsea’s Reece James over Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold when asked for his best England line-up.
England are unquestionably blessed with some of the world’s very best right-backs, with the aforementioned duo being two of the best in the business. You would have to chuck Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier into that conversation, too.
Gareth Southgate has included the quartet of full-backs in his latest Three Lions squad during the international break, which includes the last two England fixtures before the World Cup.
Reece James over Trent Alexander-Arnold
Souness, who was picking the England XI that should start at the World Cup this winter, narrowly opted for Chelsea’s full-back over his Liverpool counterpart.
When naming his right wing-back in the side, Souness said: “Reece James on the right. I had to think about that one because obviously you’ve got Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool, who’s being highlighted as not a very good defender, but going forward there is no one better.
“I’ve gone with James because I think you would start with him and see how the game went. If you needed to chase a game, you would get Trent on because of his delivery.”
If Gareth Southgate goes with a back three, you’d guess Walker will feature as a right-sided centre-back. That would leave one of James, Alexander-Arnold or Trippier to play as a right wing-back, albeit the latter has been used on the left in the past.
James has shown such great form in the past couple of years for Chelsea as a wing-back. In contrast, Alexander-Arnold’s huge success in Liverpool colours has been as a right-back in a traditional back four.
The spotlight is on Alexander-Arnold, 23, right now due to a string of defensive mistakes.
22-year-old James, described as “perfect” recently by Owen Hargreaves, looks like the individual in much better form right now.
A guess from an outside view is that James will get the nod over Alexander-Arnold when it comes to Southgate’s selection, something that Chelsea fans will feel is more than justified when you look at his brilliance both defensively and offensively.
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