Gary Lineker slams England manager Thomas Tuchel in row – ‘just wrong’ | Football | Sport

Gary Lineker has blasted England boss Thomas Tuchel for his “odd” comments on Three Lions ace Trent Alexander-Arnold. The ex-Liverpool ace has endured a difficult time since joining Real Madrid in the summer, but the right-back appears to be gathering a head of steam at just the right time.

Alexander-Arnold hasn’t featured for England since the summer, when he came off the bench during a World Cup qualifying win over Andorra. Be that because of injuries or just not getting selected, Alexander-Arnold was left out of the following squads, casting doubt on his chance of being named in England’s World Cup group.

The 27-year-old has just a few more months to impress Tuchel and force the German coach into making a U-turn, with the ex-Chelsea chief having made it clear that he wasn’t necessarily fond of Alexander-Arnold as a player. Tuchel has previously slammed Alexander-Arnold’s defensive nous, hinting he had to improve in that department if he wanted to be starting for England.

But on the back of a stellar performance for Real Madrid against Real Sociedad at the weekend, Lineker has called out Tuchel, brandishing his comments as nonsense. Speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, Lineker said: “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.”

Ensure our latest sport headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as a Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

Pointing at some of Gareth Southgate’s squad selections, he said: “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.”

It remains to be seen whether Tuchel reneges on his previous claim, with the 52-year-old having 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.”

EXPRESS SPORT ON FB! Get all the best sports news and much more on our Facebook page