The Kieran Trippier at left-back experiment continued on Thursday night, with the Newcastle United defender once again asked to play out of position for England.
The 33-year-old has played every single minute of Euro 2024 so far at left-back, with Luke Shaw still deemed unavailable to make his return from injury.
That is forcing the Newcastle United player to do a job for his country, as Kieran Trippier continues to prove why he is one of Gareth Southgate’s most trusted players.
Trippier won his 50th cap for his country on Thursday evening, in what will have been a very proud moment. But that was only a personal accomplishment, on a night that saw England fail to perform at the Euros for a second consecutive game.
The reaction to Kieran Trippier’s performance at left-back against Denmark
England have problems in attack, and they are problems that Alan Shearer thinks Anthony Gordon can solve.
But the left-back issue is going to persist for as long as Shaw is unavailable, with Trippier needed to operate out of position.
He was solid enough against Serbia, and now Micah Richards and Gary Lineker have given their verdicts on how he performed versus Denmark on the latest episode of The Rest Is Football podcast.
Richards: “Trippier did okay. I thought he did okay. We know he is right footed playing left back so he is not going to get crosses into the box, but he did well in fairness.”
Lineker: “He did okay.”
Newcastle United defender is steady yet again for England
Defensively, you could have no real complaints about Trippier’s performance. He was steady yet again, just like he was against Serbia.
Offensively, it was the same old story. With him being on his weaker side, he simply is not as effective as he could be on the right. And we saw exactly how important fullbacks can be in the final third, with Kyle Walker bursting into the box from the right to help give England the lead.
There is no way Trippier can do that from the left, which is an even bigger issue when he has got Phil Foden ahead of him. Trippier wants to come inside, while Foden is eager to do the same. With them playing together, England’s attack down the left is non-existent.
And it is an issue that is not going to be solved at left-back, as it remains unclear when Luke Shaw will be fit enough to feature. And even if he is fit enough, he has not played since February and will be severely lacking match sharpness. As each day goes by, it becomes more and more baffling that he was picked.
For England to be a threat down the left, Trippier needs to play with a proper winger. That is why Anthony Gordon needs to come into the side, and Toons fans will be praying that Gareth Southgate makes that change against Slovenia on Tuesday.
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