Rooney Stunned by Trent Alexander-Arnold's World Cup Omission
Wayne Rooney leans back behind the microphone and chooses his words carefully, but the verdict lands with a thud.
“Mind-boggling.”
That is how England’s former captain describes Trent Alexander-Arnold’s omission from Thomas Tuchel’s latest squad, just weeks before the head coach names his World Cup party.
Rooney stunned by Trent snub
Alexander-Arnold has fought his way back to full fitness at Real Madrid after a thigh injury, re-established himself as a regular under the glare of the Bernabéu, and still watched England’s March friendlies from home.
No Reece James. No opening.
Instead, Tuchel turned to Arsenal’s Ben White, who started both games against Uruguay and Japan and even scored the opener in the 1-1 draw with Uruguay. White did little wrong. That is not Rooney’s point.
“No disrespect to Ben White – I think he's a fantastic player – but for him to be in the squad and playing ahead of Trent is mind-boggling,” Rooney said on the Wayne Rooney Podcast.
Tuchel doubled down in his wider planning. When he named a 35-man group for England’s final home friendlies before the World Cup, Alexander-Arnold’s name was missing again. Newcastle’s Tino Livramento, Tottenham’s Djed Spence and Aston Villa’s Ezri Konsa all made the cut. Trent did not.
The numbers are stark. The former Liverpool star has been left out of Tuchel’s last four squads. He has not kicked a ball for England since a brief outing off the bench in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra in June last year.
For a player once hailed as a generational full-back, the slide is dramatic.
Jagielka: “You need your best players”
Rooney is not alone in his disbelief. Phil Jagielka, his old Everton team‑mate and a defender who knows what it takes to survive at international level, cannot see a World Cup without Alexander-Arnold on the plane.
“I think he probably still makes it,” Jagielka said. “You need your best players.
“If [Alexander-Arnold] proves he can play half as well as he played for most of his time at Liverpool, he's definitely worth taking on the plane. If Reece James is fit, you put him in [at right-back].”
There is the crux of the debate. Even those arguing for Trent accept that, at full strength, James starts.
Rooney agrees. He would also hand the Chelsea man the shirt this summer, while still questioning what James offers without the ball.
“Reece James isn't the most defensive,” Rooney said. “In terms of the lads who are there, you wouldn't say they're the best defensively anyway, [any] of them.”
It is a damning assessment of England’s right‑back pool: rich in talent, short on pure defenders.
Left-back battle: talent vs trust
On the opposite flank, the picture is no clearer. Manchester City’s Nico O’Reilly and Newcastle’s Lewis Hall are pushing hard to be Tuchel’s first-choice left-back in Canada, Mexico and the USA.
O’Reilly has been a revelation for Pep Guardiola’s side, racking up 50 appearances across all competitions, with nine goals and six assists. Those are not full-back numbers; they are playmaker returns from the left side.
Hall has impressed in a different way. In a turbulent season for Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, he has been one of the few constants, featuring in 44 games and helping the Magpies into the last 16 of the Champions League. Less headline-grabbing, more quietly reliable.
Jagielka admires O’Reilly’s flair, but his defender’s eye keeps circling back to the basics.
“I really, really enjoy watching O'Reilly, but he gets caught out of defence,” he said. “He doesn't get asked to play left-back when he's at Manchester City.
“I'd go O'Reilly at this moment in time, but there's literally nothing between him and Lewis.”
Two young full-backs, one leaning towards midfield artistry, the other towards structure and stability. Tuchel must choose which profile he trusts when the stakes rise.
Rooney turns to a familiar face
Rooney, though, looks past both of them. For all the excitement around O’Reilly and Hall, he would reach for a more familiar name: Luke Shaw.
Shaw started at left-back at Euro 2020 and the 2022 World Cup. He is not the rampaging force he once was, but that is not what Rooney wants from his full-backs anymore.
“We don't need our full-backs to be the most attacking; we need them to defend,” Rooney said. “Keep the balance and let the attacking player win you the games.
“Luke Shaw can't [attack] as much now, but what he can do is defend.”
In one line, Rooney sums up the tactical fault line running through this England squad. Tuchel is spoiled for ball-playing full-backs who drift into midfield, create overloads and rack up numbers. What he lacks are old‑fashioned defenders that his forwards can trust behind them.
So the questions pile up. Does Tuchel take Alexander-Arnold as a specialist weapon or leave him as a symbol of a new, more conservative era? Does he back the daring of O’Reilly, the balance of Hall, or the experience of Shaw?
The World Cup is closing in. For England’s full-backs, the margin for error is shrinking by the week.
