Wayne Rooney fumes at Gareth Southgate for 'killing' Liverpool star at Euro 2024

Ex-Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney has claimed England boss Gareth Southgate “killed” Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold by dropping him for the Three Lions.

In the build-up to Euro 2024, much was made about where Alexander-Arnold would feature for England this summer, with the prevailing thought being the 25-year-old would partner Declan Rice in midfield.

But while Alexander-Arnold started England’s opening two group stage games, a 1-0 win over Serbia and a 1-1 draw against Denmark, he found himself benched for the Three Lions final group game against Slovenia, which finished 0-0.

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Against Denmark, the Liverpool right-back was replaced by Conor Gallagher on 54 minutes, a substitution which signaled the end of the Alexander-Arnold in midfield experiment for Southgate.

Given his inexperience playing in midfield, there has been a suggestion Alexander-Arnold had been set-up to fail by Southgate. And speaking to The Times, former England and Manchester United forward Rooney believes the decision to hook Alexander-Arnold off against Denmark “killed” the Liverpool man.

“None of what happened in the group stage surprised me,” Rooney said. “I would never have played Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield and expected that, when the experiment didn’t work, Gareth would try Conor Gallagher.

“Gareth killed both a bit by discarding them, but in each case it was the right call and when Mainoo came in you saw him making forward runs and showing composure on the ball.”

Alexander-Arnold could find himself back in the England starting line-up to face Slovakia this weekend as the Three Lions look to progress to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals.

While it has been confirmed Kieran Trippier, who has started all three games for England so far at left-back, trained on Saturday, the Newcastle United defender has been dealing with a calf issue.

With Luke Shaw not match fit, despite being able to train over the weekend ahead of the Sunday afternoon clash, Southgate could opt to move Manchester City’s Kyle Walker to left-back, allowing for Alexander-Arnold to come into start in his favored position.

Against Slovenia, Alexander-Arnold replaced Trippier on 84 minutes, with Walker shifting over to the left-hand side, meaning it could be a consideration if the Newcastle defender, and Shaw, are unable to go against Slovakia.