Lineker slams ‘wrong’ England boss Tuchel over ‘very bizarre statement’ on ex-Liverpool star | OneFootball

Former England striker Gary Lineker has hit out at Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel for his surprising comments on ex-Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The England international left Liverpool in the summer transfer window, joining Real Madrid in time to compete in the Club World Cup.

Alexander-Arnold contributed 62 assists during his time in the Premier League with the new Real Madrid star known for his attacking play, rather than his defending.

The former Liverpool man has been hit by injuries during his time at the Bernabeu and has played just 13 times for Real Madrid this term.

Speaking in May last year, Tuchel pushed Alexander-Arnold to improve the defensive aspect of his game if he wanted a place in his starting XI.

Former Chelsea boss Tuchel said: “He sometimes relies heavily on his offensive contributions, but gives not so much emphasis on the defensive discipline and effort.

“This major impact that he had for Liverpool for so many years. If he wants to have this impact in the English national team then he has to take the defensive part very seriously.

“Because when we are talking, especially about qualifying football and tournament football, the one defensive error, the one moment where you are not 100 per cent awake, can be decisive.

“It can be the moment where you pack your suitcases and go home.”

Alexander-Arnold has managed just one appearance under Tuchel and Lineker has criticised the German boss for his “very bizarre statement” on the former Liverpool defender.

After reading out Tuchel’s quotes from last year, Lineker said on The Rest Is Football podcast: “So not particularly supportive comments from Thomas Tuchel. And I don’t see why Tuchel would have said that. It’s a very bizarre statement for a manager to make.

“I remember thinking similar things at the time, but he’s the guy in charge so it doesn’t particularly bode well for Trent.

“He’s saying he’s not as strong defensively as he is attacking. Oh really? Who would have thought that?

“The reason for that is he’s one of the best attacking players in world football. I mean I’ve always been very pro-Trent.

“The whole thing about his defensive side, if you play him that far forward and move him into midfield, there are going to be elements when you don’t defend particularly brilliantly.

“But other right-backs make mistakes as well and nobody says anything. If a player goes past Trent, it’s ‘oh see, there’s his weakness’.

“So it became this thing that people looked for, more than probably in reality that was there. No player can do everything brilliantly.

“If they do, they’re generally midfield players. I always thought Trent was a midfielder turned into a full-back at some point when he first got into the Liverpool side and never got shifted out.

“And on the occasions he’s been chucked into the England set-up as a midfielder, he hadn’t had that experience playing there over recent seasons so it’s difficult.

“But inside there is an absolutely brilliant midfield player and it’s a bit of a shame that he’s ended up having to play at full-back.

“Also you can’t have your coaches and managers talking negatively about you in public. That’s wrong, Tuchel shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what possessed him to do it.

“If you think that, that’s fine and you can have private conversations with the player addressing the issues. But you don’t do that publicly just to justify your own decisions, it’s just wrong.

“(Trent wasn’t in the squad at time of comments). That’s why Tuchel was trying to justify it, maybe, I don’t know the reasons he would have said that.

“But it was distinctly odd, unusual and a mistake. You don’t do that publicly about players.”

Lineker added: “Gareth [Southgate] is a defensive-minded coach, perhaps even more so than Tuchel who likes to be on the front foot a little bit more.

“So I think there’s an obvious reason why he didn’t appeal much to Southgate. Different styles of management, you have to respect that.

“But he wasn’t a fit, and what England ultimately struggled to do was create attacking opportunities, particularly in the last tournament.

“Gareth sort of put him in the midfield role and hung him out to dry a little bit.”