Ferdinand: “James is now superior to Alexander-Arnold, he is better defensively”

With the World Cup in Qatar fast approaching, one of the positions ‘fought for’ in the England national team is that of right-back, with Gareth Southgate being asked to choose between Rhys James and Trent Alexander-Arnold for the starting shirt (after Kyle Walker’s injury makes him doubtful for the event).

However, in the Three Lions’ last two Nations League games, the Liverpool full-back was left without playing time and James fought back and took the lead for the role, which Rio Ferdinand seems fully on board.

The veteran Manchester United and England stopper claimed the Blues defender has a clear lead over his Liverpool counterpart at the moment following Chelsea’s game against AC Milan, where James (goal and assist) was outstanding.

“On the ball I think James is as good as Trent, but defensively he excels in one-on-one situations. That’s the difference between them at the moment. The big players have each other and push each other to get better …

I think Reese has the edge now, but Trent can improve and turn things around.”said Ferdinand, who also made a special mention of James’ performance against Rafael Leao during Chelsea’s match against Milan on the third day of the Champions League.

“He had Leao in front of him and in case he didn’t know, James knew after the first 10 minutes that he was going to have a tough night. In the first half I was worried about his performance but in the second half he was.” decided to be aggressive.

Not leaving Leao behind, he grabbed the ball and let his opponent know he was ready to fight. It was as if she were telling him: “I will defend, but at the same time I will attack”.

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