Gareth Southgate Drops Trent Alexander-Arnold After Frank Leboeuf Calls His Defending "Championship Level"

Gareth Southgate dropped Trent Alexander-Arnold from his England squad after Frank Leboeuf said the Liverpool right-back's defending was "Championship level".

England manager Gareth Southgate has cut Trent Alexander-Arnold from his squad ahead of Monday's game against Germany at Wembley.

The Liverpool right-back had been called up as a member of a 28-man party for England's UEFA Nations League games with Italy and Germany.

Alexander-Arnold was an unused substitute as England lost 1-0 to Italy in Milan on Friday - a result that saw the Three Lions relegated to League B.

Despite calling up 28 players, Southgate was only able to name 23 in each matchday squad and Alexander-Arnold has not made the cut for the Germany game.

James Ward-Prowse, Fikayo Tomori and Jarrod Bowen also failed to make the 23, while Jack Grealish was left out due to suspension.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England players left out of tonight's squad to face Germany:

▪️ Trent Alexander-Arnold
▪️ Fikayo Tomori
▪️ James Ward-Prowse
▪️ Jarrod Bowen pic.twitter.com/bKP3hd1Brw

— LiveScore (@livescore) September 26, 2022

Monday's clash with Germany is England's final fixture before the World Cup in November.

It is now looking increasingly likely that Alexander-Arnold will not be going to Qatar 2022 as the 23-year-old appears to be behind Reece James, Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker in the pecking order of England right-backs.

Alexander-Arnold's omission by Southgate came two days after the Liverpool ace was criticized by former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf.

England manager Gareth Southgate pictured with his arm around Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2019 :: IMAGO/Focus Images/Paul Chesterton

Frenchman Leboeuf praised Alexander-Arnold for his attacking qualities but said that he was too weak defensively.

According to Leboeuf, as a defender Alexander-Arnold is only good enough to play in England's second division, the EFL Championship.

"I love the guy, his offensive qualities. But defensively, he's Championship level," Leboeuf told French newspaper Journal du Dimanche.

Alexander-Arnold has 11 goals and 45 assists to his name after 167 career Premier League games and has been a key member of a Liverpool team that has won seven different trophies since 2019.

But Leboeuf is not convinced that Alexander-Arnold is adaptable enough to shine under any manager other than Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

He added: "Only Klopp's system works for him.

"When it doesn't work as well as it has this season, all you see is his defensive shortcomings."

Chelsea right-back James is arguably England's most like-for-like alternative to Alexander-Arnold.

James has provided seven goals and 14 assists in 87 Premier League games for Chelsea.