Wayne Rooney has described Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from the latest England squad as “mind-boggling”, despite admitting he would start Reece James at right-back for the World Cup. The former Manchester United captain made the comments on his BBC show, questioning why Ben White was selected ahead of the Liverpool defender for the friendlies against Uruguay and Japan.
Alexander-Arnold, 27, was surprisingly left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad in March despite featuring regularly for Real Madrid since recovering from a thigh injury in January. He has not played for England since a brief substitute appearance in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra 11 months ago.
Rooney, however, said he would pick James alongside Harry Maguire, Marc Guehi and Luke Shaw in England’s back four. “We don’t need our full-backs to be the most attacking, we need them to defend,” he added, noting that England’s attacking talent should be relied upon to win games.
James has been sidelined since mid-March with a hamstring problem, but Rooney believes the Chelsea defender is best suited to the role. “No disrespect to Ben White, I think he’s a really good player, but for him to be in the squad and play ahead of Trent, I find it mind-boggling,” Rooney said.
Tuchel had previously indicated that Jarell Quansah was ahead of Alexander-Arnold in the pecking order, while Tino Livramento has also deputised at full-back for England. White, who had been in self-imposed exile, returned and started both friendlies, scoring against Uruguay.
