ARNE SLOT GIVES BLUNT TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD RESPONSE AFTER ENGLAND EXPERIMENT BACKFIRED
Arne Slot has refused to comment on England's decision to deploy Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield, though insisted he has his own plans for the 25-year-old.
Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate opted to select Alexander-Arnold in central midfield for his side's first two games of Euro 2024. That experiment badly backfired though, with the Liverpool star subbed off early in the second-half during the draw with Denmark.
He was then dropped for the final group game against Slovenia, before again being left on the bench for the Last 16 win over Slovakia. There is a chance that Alexander-Arnold comes back into the team for the quarter-final against Switzerland, though he will not be playing in central midfield.
Once England's participation in this summer Euros is over, Alexander-Arnold will return to Liverpool, where Slot has now officially taken over as manager. The Dutchman held his first press conference in his new role on Friday.
And during that he was asked about his plans for both Alexander-Arnold and Netherlands star Cody Gakpo. Slot is remaining tight-lipped though, insisting pundits will have to wait before finding out his plans.
"I don't have an opinion about what their best position would be at their countries because that depends on what other players they have. You cannot judge a player on their own," the Liverpool boss said.
"It's always a team effort. But I do have my opinion about where they're going to play here. But if you don't mind, I'm going to talk to them about that first and work with them first before telling you."
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Gakpo has scored three goals and notched one assist to help the Netherlands reach the quarter-finals in Germany. But Slot believes he can reach an even higher level as he prepares his side for a new season.
"I am hoping he will step up even more. We are hoping and expecting him to do even better. He has been impressive and had a good tournament so far," Slot said of his countryman.
"We've inherited a good team. With the way I look at football, I can see how important it is to work on a daily basis. Not all players have the same level they have at their clubs. There is already a really good team. Few good signings last year.
"Normally you see things will improve. I was hoping if people looked at my team, it wasn't 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. It's a lot of freedom to take different positions. A lot of freedom when we have the ball. When we don't have the ball, we want to be really aggressive.
"I wouldn't say I prefer 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. If you asked me, I'd have said we played 4-3-3. Full-backs have different roles. I've seen a lot of games and training sessions, but you know them better if you are with them. We do need to find things to improve."
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2024-07-05T12:21:03Z dg43tfdfdgfd