Alan Pardew, former manager of Newcastle United and Crystal Palace, believes Trent Alexander-Arnold should have been included in England's squad for the FIFA World Cup and that Tuchel's risky decision has had disastrous consequences.

Pardew said on "World Cup GameDay Live" that Alexander-Arnold should not have been left out.

« If you asked 20 professional football managers, I think 19 of them would have taken Trent (Alexander-Arnold), really. I see no reason not to take him. »

« I think the Panama match was a bit trickier, and I can understand why Tuchel didn't take him, but if it had been me, I would have taken him, and I think the recent matches have completely proven that. »

« I don't think we looked like a really cohesive team; we feel like we're fumbling in the dark, searching for clues, looking for connections between us, whereas when I watch the best teams, I can see connections and some cohesion. »

Pardew believes England's biggest problem is at right-back.

« We clearly have issues, and the right-back position is a particular problem, but when you look at the relationships within a team, the relationships of a good team, you start to see the cracks in our team. »

« I think we're either going to scrape through on penalties, which is a possibility, or we're going to be completely swept aside by the opposition, which I also think is a possibility. »

« I'll tell you why: I don't think the relationship between Pickford and the two centre-backs is very good; we need to look at that first. »

« Last night, when Guehi, Akanji and Pickford were playing from the back, there was a lot of gesturing and they didn't look very confident. »

« O'Neill is playing left-back, and in my opinion, he should start the next match; he played fairly well, but he cuts in from the wing towards midfield, so we haven't yet established a connection with him and the players on the left side. »

« We don't even know who's on the left – most likely Rashford, but it could also be Gordon, so there's no connection on the left. »

« Then look at the right, we might have Spence at right-back, he's only played 5 matches for Tottenham, and now we expect him to suddenly build chemistry with Saka – how many times has he played with Saka? »

« In my opinion, the only place where we look like a team is in midfield: Ødegaard, Rice and Bellingham all look good. »

« I quite like that balance, I don't think it will be affected, I think they'll start in the knockout phase. »

Traduit par IA.

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