Natural right-back Alexander-Arnold has moved into England’s midfield at the Euros to partner Rice but the experiment has had mixed success.
England’s midfield was accused of lacking control and rhythm as the Three Lions drew 1-1 with Denmark on Thursday after labouring to a 1-0 win over Serbia in their tournament opener.
Several pundits have highlighted Alexander-Arnold as one of the main reasons England are flattering to deceive in Germany, with ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane claiming he has been ‘found out’ and should be dropped.
But Rice believes Alexander-Arnold still has a role to play in England’s midfield and has pointed out the hypocrisy from pundits and fans who have ‘backtracked’ on their views of the Liverpool star.
‘It’s funny because people were calling for Trent to play in midfield,’ Rice told ITV ahead of England’s final group game against Slovenia. ‘Half the country are calling for Trent to play in midfield and then he plays in midfield and you want to bring him down.
‘I don’t get it, I don’t get it at all. I’ll defend all of my boys until the day I don’t put on an England shirt. Trent is one of the best players I’ve ever seen.
‘Don’t call for someone to play in a position and then backtrack because you think he’s had a bad day or something.
‘I’ll tell you now – Trent can play in midfield. I’ve seen it for England and for Liverpool. He’s unbelievable.’
Rice, who enjoyed an impressive first season at Premier League runners-up Arsenal, also hit out at pundits who aimed stinging criticism at the Three Lions following the Denmark draw.
Ex-England striker and Match of the Day host Gary Lineker described the performance as ‘s***’, while Alan Shearer, Rio Ferdinand and Micah Richards were also highly critical of the display.
‘I’m not disappointed [by the criticism] because I’ve played football long enough now, I know how they work,’ Rice said. ‘That’s why I really do not get bothered about it at all.
‘Look, they’re entitled to their opinion. They’re on TV, they’re saying whatever they want. I know some of them personally. They’re great guys.
‘But, like I said, they’ve been in our shoes as well and sometimes just to have that thought of process, you know, just before they speak.
‘They’ve been where I’m sat, where our other players have sat and not done well at tournaments. So look, I don’t why we feel like such a negative thing. We’re talking like we’re going out of the tournament here.’
Despite underwhelming in Germany, England will progress to the knockout stages of the Euros as Group C winners if they beat Slovenia, who clinched two 1-1 draws against Denmark and Serbia.
Rice added: ‘We’re top of the group, we need to stay positive, stay upbeat. Let’s have some positivity going into games.
‘Let’s give players the best confidence in the world. Players like Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Jude Bellingham, tell them they’re the best players in the world.
‘Rather than reading the negative comments sitting on their mind and then thinking that they can’t play a certain way. That’s the way I think about it. And I’m sure we have enough of them people as well which is good.’
While England are in the driving seat to top Group C, Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia all have a chance to join them in the knockout stages ahead of the final group games on Tuesday evening.
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