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Paul Scholes makes Chelsea star dig as he reacts to Trent Alexander-Arnold England decision

Conor Gallagher of England looks on
-Credit: (Image: Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images)


Paul Scholes has given his take on Gareth Southgate's rumoured decision to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold with Conor Gallagher in the England squad.

The Three Lions are set to face Slovenia in their final group match at Euro 2024 in Cologne on Tuesday. Despite securing a spot in the last 16, lacklustre performances against Serbia and Denmark have piled the pressure on Southgate's team.

Liverpool's Alexander-Arnold has been deployed in midfield for England's previous group matches but failed to impress in the 1-1 stalemate with Denmark last Thursday. In response, it is reported that Southgate has opted to bench the Liverpool defender in favour of Chelsea's Connor Gallagher.

Reacting to the news on Instagram, Manchester United and England legend Scholes said: "Why are we obsessed with energy when we should be obsessed with the brain," ahead of Tuesday's clash.

Scholes may also be hinting at the limited playing time of United's Kobbie Mainoo, who did not play last time out against Denmark.

Reflecting on England's midfield issues post-Denmark match, Southgate admitted: "We have been trying to find a solution in midfield for seven or eight years. If we hadn't had Declan Rice, I don't know where we'd have been."

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"Unfortunately, Kalvin (Phillips) wasn't a possible for us for this tournament and Hendo (Jordan Henderson) the same, so we're trying to find something different."

"Some of that has worked, some of that hasn't worked so well - but over the years that's been a consistent problem we've tried to find the best way of solving and we've got to do that in the coming weeks as well."

"One of our biggest problems was we weren't pressing well enough as a team, so Trent had all sorts of problems to solve without the ball - and most of the time he did really, really well."

"But clearly you're going to see different pictures when you're in there every week. He's had moments where he's played the passes that we thought he could. I understand, you're always going to ask me about individuals, but the team didn't function today. That's my responsibility."