Controversy against Thomas Tuchel: English legend attacks him
A few months ago Thomas Tuchel had not had kind words for Trent Alexander-Arnold. The England national team coach had rebuked the star for his defensive qualities: He often relies a lot on his offensive contribution but doesn’t put a lot of emphasis on discipline and defensive effort, but he needs to work on that. When we are talking about knockout tournaments or with very important competitions, a single defensive inattention can cost the team dearly”.
Following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s last performance in a Real Madrid shirt, English legend Gary Lineker harshly attacked Thomas Tuchel: “I think his words are rather bizarre– he told The Rest is Football.”
Trent is one of the best in the world in his role, he clearly has better offensive characteristics than defensive ones but every footballer is made in his own way. Other full-backs also make mistakes and nobody says anything: no player can do everything perfectly”.
“Neither your agents nor your coaches should speak ill of you in public. It is wrong, Tuchel should not have done that. He can think in a certain way, he would miss it, however, he should not externalize it publicly. I absolutely disagree” concluded Lineker, who with the English senior national team played 80 games scoring 48 goals.
Alexander-Arnold struggled mightily in the first weeks of his Real Madrid stint, and the muscle injury sustained in December 2025 certainly did not help him settle into his new team. Added to this is the coaching case: in early January Florentino Perez decided to relieve Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa took his place. Not all fans liked the president’s decision and the situation in the team is certainly not the best.
Recently some Spanish media have reported Bayern Munich’s interest in Trent Alexander-Arnold but the deal is highly unlikely given the high costs: the Bavarian club has decided that it will invest most of its budget for a purchase in the offensive department. A new right-back is certainly needed but the arrival of Givairo Read is much more likely.
