Roy Keane brutally calls out Trent Alexander-Arnold seconds after brilliant England goal - The Mirror

ITV Sport pundit Roy Keane delivered a damning assessment of Trent Alexander-Arnold's defending just minutes after the Liverpool star scored in England's 3-1 win over Finland

Roy Keane tore into Trent Alexander-Arnold despite his stunning goal in England's win over Finland, saying he 'can't believe how bad' the Liverpool star's defending is.

The Reds defender, 26, was played in an unfamiliar left-back position by interim head coach Lee Carsley in Helsinki. Alexander-Arnold has been a mainstay in Carsley's four matches at the helm, although the decision to play him on the left did raise eyebrows pre-match.

Alexander-Arnold netted a sumptuous free-kick in the second half to double England's lead before they went on to seal a comfortable 3-1 victory. But he was savaged after the match by Keane, who delivered a bleak assessment of his defending.

Keane and Ian Wright first praised his sublime free-kick, with the Irishman saying on ITV : “Great technique, you can see his standing foot, technique is fantastic. No chance for the goalkeeper. I’m usually harsh on goalkeepers but I’ll go easy on that one.”

But he then tore into the Liverpool vice-captain, adding on his overall performance: “You give time to Trent, because his decision making and quality of passing is fantastic, but I can’t believe how bad he is defensively and against better teams he’ll be punished.”

Wright was more positive. He said: “I don’t think he did much defensively to make you say ‘OK that’s the position he’s going to play’. But from a creative point of view, Lee Carsley wants as many creative players in the deep end of his football team as possible. I can’t see it being something that happens too frequently.”

Keane also aimed a dig at Alexander-Arnold in the build-up to Sunday evening's match after he and Wright were asked for their verdict on his surprise inclusion at left-back; a position he's never previously played in.

Referencing his performance in Thursday night's humiliating 2-1 loss to Greece. Keane said: “If you saw him the other night defending, it looked like he'd never played right-back before!”

Join the debate! What did you make of Alexander-Arnold's performance? Let us know here.

The form and longevity of Kyle Walker has restricted Alexander-Arnold to a bit-part role for his country despite his consistently excellent performances for Liverpool in the Premier League.

Gary Neville previously warned that England would have huge regrets if they were unable to make the most of Alexander-Arnold's prodigious talents in the coming years.

“I think it works for now,” Neville said of Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield on ITV during Euro 2024. “The only thing I would say is that we could look back in five, six, seven, eight years if we don't get Trent Alexander-Arnold [playing] international football and regret how we have handled him.

“ He is one player that I would describe as world-class at what he does - there's no doubt about that. He's unique in terms of his delivery [and] his set-piece play. We're talking about Trent Alexander-Arnold here.

“No-one ever doubts the fact that he's special. Really special. And we've mishandled special players for 20, 30, 40 years. We're trying to get him into the team so lets see how it goes.”

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