Laura Woods urges Thomas Tuchel to recall England star for the World Cup

Laura Woods believes Thomas Tuchel make a ‘crazy’ mistake in his latest England squad and should recall Trent Alexander-Arnold for the World Cup.

Tuchel named an expanded 35-man squad for the March friendlies against Uruguay and Japan but still overlooked Real Madrid defender Alexander-Arnold.

Ex-England captain Wayne Rooney described Alexander-Arnold’s omission as ‘incredible’, while Gary Lineker said it was a ‘really insulting’ decision from Tuchel.

TV presenter Woods was also shocked by Alexander-Arnold’s absence and says it is ‘madness’ not to at least have the former Liverpool star in the squad.

‘Trent Alexander-Arnold should be in the England squad at the very least, especially considering how many players Thomas Tuchel picked,’ she told BetMGM.

‘He plays for Real Madrid!

How can we not take him?

I went to their game against Manchester City, where they won 3-0, and Trent was brilliant.

‘He worked hard and he defended, which is always the biggest criticism against him.

I also think if you have a solid defence then you can let him go forward and play those amazing passes – let Trent do what Trent does best.

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‘England will need that at the World Cup.

You don’t have to play him every game.

It’s horses for courses but leaving him out entirely is crazy to me.

‘Imagine his Real Madrid team-mates learning he’s being left behind by England.

He’s not had the best start at Madrid but he’s also had injuries and it’s a lot moving abroad.

‘It’s madness not to even include him.

For his passing range alone he should be on that plane.’
Alexander-Arnold made over 350 appearances for boyhood club Liverpool, helping them win two Premier League titles, the Champions League, FA Cup and EFL Cup.

The 27-year-old joined Real Madrid last summer on a six-year deal and has impressed since the New Year after a shaky start to his Bernabeu career.

Ex-Premier League manager Sam Allardyce has also questioned Tuchel’s decision to overlook Alexander-Arnold, telling Footy Accumulators: ‘I can’t quite understand that.

‘I can’t understand it because of his qualities and his experience at Real Madrid will have made him even better.

‘Anybody experiencing Real Madrid will be a better player for it.

He had his difficulties early on, but he seems to have settled in and is now playing regularly.

‘You can’t ignore his quality.

He is a bit suspect defensively, but that happens rarely because of his quality.

‘The amount of difficulties he causes the opposition with his passing, particularly his long passing, his final ball and his crosses into the box – I’ve always been an admirer of him.

‘Who’s better than him?

If they’re looking for a better defender then fine, but you’ll have to make up for the loss of his passing ability with the players in front of him.’
England drew 1-1 with Uruguay on Friday night and will hope for a better performance when they face Japan on Tuesday.

Tuchel is attempting to lead England to only their second World Cup trophy and first since 1966.

The Three Lions’ first World Cup game is against Croatia on June 17.

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