Former England star has backed Gareth Southgate's decision to drop Liverpool and Arsenal players from the Euro 2024 qualifiers squad
Former England defender Danny Mills has backed manager Gareth Southgate's decision not to include Arsenal's Ben White and Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold in his squad.
Both players have been excluded from the squad that will face Italy and Ukraine in the UEFA Euro qualifiers this week. Southgate has picked Reece James, Kyle Walker, and Kieran Trippier as his right-backs, leaving Alexander-Arnold and White out.
Mills backed Southgate's decision to leave the Reds fullback out, saying that Alexander-Arnold has struggled this season with Liverpool. He told the Mirror:
"He's not really been in the England squads - he's been left out before, hasn't he? Does his form this season say he has to be picked? It doesn't. Let's be honest - you look at Liverpool's form, you look at Trent's form, no, even Klopp's left him out from time to time this season, so that speaks volumes."
White, meanwhile, has had an excellent season for Arsenal playing at right-back, which isn't the centre-back's primary position. He was also in England's World Cup squad but returned early, reportedly due to personal reasons.
Speaking about White's exclusion from the squad for the Three Lions' upcoming fixtures, Mills said:
"Ben White is an interesting one. He's playing a little bit out of position at right back, I understand that, again is not 100 per cent guaranteed to be in that Arsenal team. There's also the issue that he left the World Cup early. No one's mentioned it. Why? We've had no answer or no reason why he left the World Cup early."
Mills speculated that there could be some issue with White and the England camp, which could explain his exclusion. He said:
"There's been nothing confirmed as to why he left the England camp, so you have to put that down as well to either he left - and he didn't come out and say for himself it was personal reasons, he just left - so, I'm going to put two and two together and presume there's a slight issue in there."
He added:
"What that is, I don't know, but I'm not going mad by thinking clearly there's some sort of issue. So that might be one of the reasons he's not in and around it, but also there are better options."
Ben White & Trent Alexander-Arnold's contrasting forms for Arsenal & Liverpool respectively
Both fullbacks have had a very contrasting 2022-23 campaign so far.
White has helped Arsenal mount a Premier League title challenge this season as they hold an eight-point lead over Manchester City, who have a game in hand. He has made 36 appearances across competitions, registering one goal and three assists.
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, has seen Liverpool dip in form as they sit sixth in the league table, 27 points behind Arsenal with two games in hand.
The Englishman has scored three goals and provided three assists in 36 games across competitions for Liverpool this season.