Ben White and Trent Alexander-Arnold are two huge talking points around the current England set-up and Stan Collymore appears to have picked his corner.
White made his return for England last night, scoring and then giving away a penalty in the space of ten minutes after being booed onto the field.
Trent, of course, stayed home in Madrid but Collymore has admitted that he finds it utterly baffling how Thomas Tuchel is picking his squad.
Should Ben White be a starter for England at the World Cup?
Stan Collymore backs Trent Alexander-Arnold for England over Ben White
To be fair to Ben White, it’s not his fault the current coaching staff have recalled him and he never outright said he wouldn’t ever play for England.
Still, former Aston Villa man Collymore believes the issue is a big one and has claimed Alexander-Arnold will have every right to be annoyed.
“If I was a Trent Alexander Arnold as one example, I would be a bit miffed at the moment,” Collymore admitted on TalkSPORT.
“Because I’m like, I turn up when asked, all of my squads that I turn up to, people are speculating whether I’m a good enough right back or whether I’m a midfielder or whether my passing is good enough. Why isn’t Ben White subject to the same scrutiny?
“So for me, it’s an absolute no.”
How England players have reacted to Ben White’s recall
It was no surprise to hear the media ask the current England players about White’s recall and they do appear to be backing the Arsenal man.
Harry Maguire was among those to comment on White, admitting he was delighted for the Gunners defender.
“A bit crazy, scoring the first goal. I thought he was brilliant when he came on,” Maguire commented.
“I can’t say anything about the defending for that one [the penalty]. If that were me in that position, I’d be attempting to block the shot as well. That’s what we’ve got to do. That’s a real soft penalty.
“He’s been good all week, a big smile on his face, and he’s brought great energy to the camp. He got his rewards tonight with the goal, and I thought he was brilliant when he came on.”
Jordan Henderson also commented on White being booed, admitting it was ‘not nice’ but something the defender will just have to deal with and not take personally.
Hopefully, much of the noise is now behind White and his performance did him no harm.
Quite whether he makes the World Cup squad or not, is another matter.
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