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Former England striker Gary Lineker has criticized Gareth Southgate for leaving the “best passer in English football”, Trent Alexander-Arnold, on the bench against Germany. Lineker implied that Alexander-Arnold’s passing ability would have helped the Three Lions play with more authority against the four-time World Cup winners.
England traveled to the Allianz Arena to take on Germany in their second 2022-23 UEFA Nations League Group A3 fixture on Tuesday night (June 7). Having lost to Hungary in Friday’s (June 3) opener, Southgate’s team were in search of a positive result.
The visitors struggled to dominate proceedings against Hansi Flick’s spirited German side and were fortunate to walk away with a 1-1 draw. Harry Kane scored from the spot in the 88th minute, canceling out Jonas Hofmann’s 50th-minute strike.
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But Lineker was not pleased with the Three Lions' performance against Die Mannschaft and thought Southgate committed a blunder by keeping the team’s best passer on the bench. He tweeted:
“England trail and continue to struggle to pass the ball to each other and create anything, while the best passer in English football remains on the bench. That would be Trent Alexander-Arnold if you weren’t sure.”
Alexander-Arnold finished the 2021-22 Premier League campaign as the second-leading assist provider (12) in the division. Only his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah created more goals (13) in the recently concluded season. The right-back also created 18 big chances, completed 2155 passes and accurately delivered 203 throughballs.
Despite being a regular for his club, Alexander-Arnold has made just 16 appearances for England, scoring one goal. The Three Lions have a problem of plenty when it comes to the right-back position and the Liverpool star has to contend with the likes of Kyle Walker, Reece James and Kieran Trippier for a starting spot. Manchester City's Walker started against Germany on this occasion.
England skipper Harry Kane reaches major milestone in draw with Germany
Harry Kane produced a fine performance against Germany on Tuesday night (June 7). He regularly got into threatening areas and was unlucky not to score from close range in the 77th minute, with Manuel Neuer pulling off a world-class save to deny him.
Nine minutes later, he drew a foul from Nico Schlotterbeck inside the German box, earning a penalty in the process. Confident as ever, Kane stepped up and converted the resultant spot-kick, securing a point for his side.
The goal marked the 50th goal of his international career (71 appearances), making him the second-highest goalscorer in his country’s history. Only Wayne Rooney (53 goals in 120 appearances) has scored more goals than him in England colors.
