England national team manager Gareth Southgate will drop Trent Alexander-Arnold for Conor Gallagher in their final European Championship group game against Slovenia.
According to The Athletic, Gallagher will partner Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham in the centre.
Southgate’s decision to play Alexander-Arnold in midfield for England’s first two group games against Serbia and Denmark has come under fire, with the Three Lions struggling to click into gear.
Apart from the first half against Serbia, England have unsurprisingly underwhelmed at the tournament.
Many have put the blame down on Southgate’s Alexander-Arnold midfield experiment (it’s more tactics than anything).
The 25-year-old does not have the technical understanding of operations in the centre the way midfielders like Toni Kroos, Granit Xhaka, and Jorginho do.
He was nowhere to be found when England needed someone to take charge of the games and control proceedings.
A fantastic long pass is not the only requirement for performing in midfield, and the fact that Southgate does not know this is a brutal indictment of his basic football knowledge.
Southgate’s stubborn insistence on the Alexander-Arnold gamble has left a bitter taste in the mouths of England fans.
Here they are, with a midfield brimming with young talent like Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton, and Southgate opted to shoehorn a square peg into a round hole.
The annoyingly conservative manager has gone for a Sunday League decision like playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield just because he can spray passes.
Gallagher replaced him in those first two group games off the bench, and the Chelsea midfielder will now take the starting berth. The 24-year-old brings an injection of energy to the centre.
England will be desperate to collect three points against Slovenia to book their place in the knockout round as they look to make a deep run.
