'Well short' - Jamie Carragher questions Kyle Walker's Euro 2024 errors amid Liverpool star debate

Jamie Carragher has debated whether Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive liabilities were as bad as people make out following his recent form for England.

In the latest episode of the Overlap’s ‘Stick to Football’, Alexander-Arnold was a significant topic as Gary Neville, Ian Wright, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes all waxed lyrical about the defender’s quality on the ball and his recent form - with Keane even going as far to say that the 25-year-old has a certain ‘swagger’.

The topic quickly turned to why he wasn’t utilised for England at right-back under Gareth Southgate, with Scholes making the point that a more pragmatic manager such as Southgate would rather opt for someone more defensively secure despite the passing qualities he does possess. This led Carragher to debate the idea of whether his good traits outweigh the bad, and how Manchester City’s Walker was guilty of plenty of errors at Euro 2024 which failed to justify Southgate’s decision.

“I think the benefits on the ball do override the defensive stuff” He said about Alexander-Arnold. “When you talk of a basic quality of a defender, we always judge them on one thing: One v One defending. So you think of Kyle Walker you can’t really get past him but how many goals did we concede in the summer in the right-back area because Walker was out of position? Or he’s playing someone onside because his position is not right?

“I’m not saying Trent is amazing at all the other things; tucking in at the back post, positional play next to your centre-back, do you step into the pocket or do you stay - there’s lots of things around defending rather than just one v one. If you look at the whole thing of what you want from a defender, Kyle Walker was well short in the summer. Walker still lets you down defensively, he switches off, his positional play.”

Alexander-Arnold produced successive man of the match displays under interim boss Lee Carsley and looks far settled in that right-back position that mirrored his role in Arne Slot’s team. There will still be a debate to be had whether Walker plays over him as the 34-year-old is eyeing up 100 caps. Still, with plenty of opportunities over the coming months, the Liverpool defender has certainly laid down a marker early on in the new reign.