England: Reece James' free kick prompted cheeky Alexander-Arnold comment from Sky Sports | OneFootball

England were relegated from the Nations League in dismal fashion on Friday evening after being beaten 1-0 by Italy.

The result means the Three Lions have now failed to win in any of their last five matches.

A streak in which they have also failed to score a single goal from open play.

To say it’s not ideal preparation for this year’s World Cup would be the understatement of the year and it leaves Gareth Southgate with countless problems to address prior to Qatar.

First and foremost, he needs to pick his squad and come up with a starting XI that he can rely upon consistently.

Southgate has several options in many positions across the pitch, none more so than at right-back, in which the manager arguably has three of the top five players in the world for that role within his roster.

Reece James, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kyle Walker have all been leading world-class players throughout the past couple of seasons and could turn out for the Three Lions in Qatar if picked.

Granted, Alexander-Arnold has come under fire for some poor form more recently and maybe that’s why James started against the Italians, but there can be no denying his creative quality.

Creative quality that could seemingly be of great benefit to the England side based off last night’s performance.

And that’s something Sky Sports interestingly chose to highlight in their text-commentary for the Italy game.

Sky Sport’s cheeky text commentary remark

‘Italy 1-0 England 81: SAVE! James doesn’t really cross or shoot and Donnarumma makes an easy punched clearance under no pressure. Yet another waste of a set piece. That will have disappointed Southgate. Trent Alexander-Arnold is on the bench remember.’

You can check out the free kick here:

The England right back debate is one of the most hotly debated topics in the UK right now, so it’s interesting that Sky Sports dropped that in there.

From the Alexander-Arnold perspective, the Liverpool star has been at the top of the game for several years now and, despite his recent dip in form, his numbers going forward are simply impossible to argue with.

SACK SOUTHGATE NOW! Italy 1-0 England Highlights (The Football Terrace)

But James has also put up some pretty impressive attacking stats since bursting onto the scene at Chelsea the season before last, and many argue the Londoner is better defensively, too.

Going into the World Cup it seems like James is likely to get the nod over Alexander-Arnold. However, you can guarantee this is a debate that’s set to rage on for some time now.

England quiz: Can you name these obscure Three Lions players?

1 of 40

He made two appearances for England in 2005…

Zat Knight Jlloyd Samuel