Wayne Rooney fears Gareth Southgate’s decision to confess the decision to deploy Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield as an ‘experiment’ will come back to haunt the England manager.
The Three Lions have one foot in the last 16, but the nature of Thursday’s performance against Denmark has sparked serious concern.
After somewhat fortuitously taking the lead through Harry Kane, England retreated into their collective shell, as they had done in their Group C opener against Serbia, and were punished by the impressive Danes.
England were, ultimately, happy to escape with a draw that leaves them on four points ahead of their next fixture against Slovenia.
Southgate has much to ponder ahead of that game, however, and must decide whether to persist with Alexander-Arnold in an unfamiliar role.
Unsurprisingly, the Liverpool right-back has struggled to adjust to the demands of his new position and has been substituted in both of England’s matches so far.
Southgate caused further consternation with his post-match comments when he bemoaned the absence of Kalvin Phillips, a player who has lost his way since his big-money move to Manchester City turned sour.
‘[Alexander-Arnold] had some moments where he’s delivered what we thought he would. We know it’s an experiment and we know that we don’t have a natural replacement for Kalvin Phillips,’ said Southgate.
‘We’re trying some different things and at the moment we’re not flowing as we’d like, that’s for sure.’
Rooney fears that revelation could come back to bite Southgate and the former English skipper believes he will ultimately regret leaving experienced midfielders like Jordan Henderson out of his 26-man squad.
‘I don’t think you can come into a major tournament and say you’re ‘experimenting’, said Rooney.
‘That’s a strong word to say and if England don’t go far in this competition I think he might regret that.
‘There is a lack of experience in the team and voices. When you’re going to press, you need to talk.
‘I would have taken Jordan Henderson because he is a voice. Harry Kane is not a big talker.’
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