Ben Chilwell and Luke Shaw are the two out and out left-backs in the England squad for the European Championship. But still, Gareth Southgate chose to use Kieran Trippier on the left-hand side of defence against Croatia.
Trippier is a right-back by trade but he was used on the left flank during England’s opener on Sunday and the Atletico Madrid man thankfully did not put a foot wrong as the Three Lions picked up all three points.
The good performance from Trippier has muted a lot of the arguments but most people are still wondering why Ben Chilwell or Luke Shaw was not selected in the starting line-up on Sunday.
After the win, the England boss explained why he opted to use the 30-year-old Kieran Trippier over the two obvious left-backs against Croatia.
Southgate told the BBC, as reported: “Well with Kieran, we feel he is a very experienced player, he did well against one player to stop crosses coming in.
“His communication and leadership I think will be a help. We have got changes in the backline and I think his experience will help us with the two boys who are out of the squad, including Harry Maguire.
“It’s just unfortunate we can only name 23 but we have to cover the positions. I don’t like that we have to leave boys out of the squad for a major competition, it’s not fair on them.”
England won that game 1-0 and there are some rumours that Kieran Trippier could be used as the first-choice left-back for the rest of the tournament.
The Atletico man did not do much wrong on Sunday but Southgate will be making a massive blunder if he doesn’t use either Ben Chilwell or Luke Shaw.
Luke Shaw had a stellar season with Manchester United while Ben Chilwell has also improved his game massively over the past year, ending the 2020-21 season by winning the Champions League season with Chelsea.
Chilwell or Shaw will be a much more sensible choice on the left-hand side of defence but we also have a feeling Kieran Trippier will hold onto that spot for the remaining group stage matches.
England take on Scotland in their next group game on Friday and if the manager opts for a 4-3-3 system then Kieran Trippier is likely to start once again but if Southgate uses a left wing-back then Luke Shaw or Ben Chilwell should be coming into the starting line-up.
According to Whoscored, Trippier had a rating of 6.9/10 for the Croatia game as he managed to make 66 passes during the game, plus making two successful tackles.
