Published 17 June 2024 4 min read
England Men's Senior Team
Trent Alexander-Arnold on new midfield role and EURO win
The England man says the team will build on their opening victory after a difficult game with Serbia
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Trent Alexander-Arnold reflected on a well-earned victory in England’s EURO 2024 opener against Serbia, but knows the team can only improve.
It took a first-half goal from Jude Bellingham to secure the points in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday evening, in what proved to be a tough start to the competition.
While the Three Lions couldn’t build on their opening goal, they had to show their resilience in defending the lead with Serbia emerging with renewed vigour and intent after the break.
"We're happy of course, we got a win which was what our objective was,” said the Liverpool man.
"It's very important to start a tournament with a win and that was our main aim. We definitely didn't want to lose the game, but we knew had the quality of players to win the game and we proved that.
"It was a very difficult game and we had to earn it, but those are the ones which feel even better.
"Tournament football is really hard and of course we feel we could've played better, but we won and in tournament football that's the only thing that matters to be honest.
It took a first-half goal from Jude Bellingham to secure the points in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday evening, in what proved to be a tough start to the competition.
While the Three Lions couldn’t build on their opening goal, they had to show their resilience in defending the lead with Serbia emerging with renewed vigour and intent after the break.
"We're happy of course, we got a win which was what our objective was,” said the Liverpool man.
"It's very important to start a tournament with a win and that was our main aim. We definitely didn't want to lose the game, but we knew had the quality of players to win the game and we proved that.
"It was a very difficult game and we had to earn it, but those are the ones which feel even better.
"Tournament football is really hard and of course we feel we could've played better, but we won and in tournament football that's the only thing that matters to be honest.
"We'll keep up the momentum. It's the first game so we won't get ahead of ourselves. We know we earnt today, but at the same time we know we need to improve in the tournament.
"So there's things to learn and things we can also look at and be happy with.”
The 25 year old played was deployed in a midfield role by boss Gareth Southgate, alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham for the game.
And he paid tribute to his teammates for their guidance in the game as well as the England coaching staff.
"It's physically demanding but when you're playing with the likes of Declan, Jude and the others in and around you with an experienced back four behind you, it helps,” he explained.
"With Declan and Jude talking to you and guiding you through it, it's hard to go wrong.
"The manager and the staff, Steve Holland especially, we've put a lot of work into this role.
“So I was well prepared and I knew what was asked of me and what role I needed to do and hopefully they felt like I executed it because we got the win in the end.”
England will now turn their attentions to their second group game on Thursday afternoon, when they face Denmark in Frankfurt (5pm BST).
"So there's things to learn and things we can also look at and be happy with.”
The 25 year old played was deployed in a midfield role by boss Gareth Southgate, alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham for the game.
And he paid tribute to his teammates for their guidance in the game as well as the England coaching staff.
"It's physically demanding but when you're playing with the likes of Declan, Jude and the others in and around you with an experienced back four behind you, it helps,” he explained.
"With Declan and Jude talking to you and guiding you through it, it's hard to go wrong.
"The manager and the staff, Steve Holland especially, we've put a lot of work into this role.
“So I was well prepared and I knew what was asked of me and what role I needed to do and hopefully they felt like I executed it because we got the win in the end.”
England will now turn their attentions to their second group game on Thursday afternoon, when they face Denmark in Frankfurt (5pm BST).