Alexander-Arnold once again proved to be a talent England couldn’t do without

After this master class from Trent Alexander-Arnold, there are plenty of good reasons to overdo it. It is quite simply a talent that England must cultivate; a talent not to be wasted.

Alexander-Arnold is one of a kind, the kind of player whose effortless flourishes cause involuntary fainting spells, and the obvious conclusion after that easy 4-0 win over Malta was that Gareth Southgate would be committing an act of vandalism if he couldn’t. not find it. would be a way to get the most out of such a handsome player.

Wearing the number 10 shirt, Alexander-Arnold simply looked like the right side of a midfield trio of Declan Rice and Jordan Henderson. He exuded class and strutted around like the house belonged to him.

There were passes with the outside of the right foot, passes over and passes into space. There was a pre-assist after eight minutes and a splendid own goal in the 27th minute. There was something new and interesting in every movement of that beautiful right foot.

This was the full performance in midfield. Alexander-Arnold intercepted the ball, positioned himself well and pushed eagerly.

Within two minutes of his goal he was up again, swerving right to left to gain possession, nutmeg an opponent and deliver the cross which earned England a penalty win for Harry Kane to make it 3–0.

Subsequently, when the match ended as match, he spun on the edge of the penalty area and created a chance for Phil Foden.

There will be shouts that Alexander-Arnold is now a fixture. Southgate will be hit on the head as he returns to the double-header of Rice and Kalvin Phillips against tougher opponents. The potential for boldness is there to be embraced:

on paper, a midfield of Rice, Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham, absent with a knee injury, look poised to take Europe by storm in Germany next summer. One caveat though:

it was only Malta. As Southgate has pointed out, there is a difference between being an attacking midfielder at right-back and being able to play in midfield.

Alexander-Arnold will have to demonstrate that he knows how to receive the ball with his back to goal and in confined spaces. The piece is in front of him when he is on his right side.

Things are more hectic at the center and it remains to be seen whether Southgate would feel comfortable letting Alexander-Arnold go in a knockout match against France.

Could a back four with Harry Maguire in the center really survive without a protective shield up front?

At least with England top of their Euro 2024 group after the first three games, these are good questions for Southgate to solve. This is a solid side, which just needs to be refined a bit. Control in possession against the best teams remains a weak point.

Alexander-Arnold, whose career in England was marked by false starts, disapprovals and disappointments, could be the cure. Here is a player who can change a game in an instant.

He remains tempting to wonder whether Southgate should have signed him when England needed a magical moment to save themselves against France at the World Cup.
Catch England’s first goal here.

There was little pressure on Alexander-Arnold as he guarded the ball on the halfway line, but he still had to make the pass.

He took a touch, looked up and judged it perfectly as he hung the ball across the channel for Bukayo Saka, who saw his low cross for Kane converted into his own net by Ferdinand Apap.

However, it would be unfair to ignore past concerns about Alexander-Arnold’s defensive instincts. He went through a crisis at the start of this season and has only recently been turned into a midfielder by Jurgen Klopp.

Until then he had been exposed to one-on-one duels and had suffered from England’s strong right-back; Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier were all considered more reliable options in the Southgate back.

However, if there was ever a time to experiment, this was it. This is the era of the drifting full-back, the era of John Stones as a midfield general, and Alexander-Arnold has been a revelation since Klopp remodeled his role at Liverpool.

The question was whether Alexander-Arnold would succeed as an orthodox midfielder for England. He was a right-back who pushed for Liverpool and gave them an extra man in the middle, but Southgate is unlikely to be such a jumper.

There is less time for experimentation in international football and the only other time England tried Alexander-Arnold in midfield, it didn’t work.

Doubtful against Andorra in September 2021, he was eventually moved back to right-back, with James moving into defensive midfield.

Since then, Southgate and Alexander-Arnold have found themselves in an awkward position. Alexander-Arnold was sometimes overlooked and hardly used in Qatar.

But Southgate was just waiting for the right moment to let him go. It was time. Alexander-Arnold was free and scored his first England goal since 2018 when he fired from long range into the top corner.

It finally seemed like his international career had picked up speed. However, the question is whether Southgate is brave enough to use it against better opponents.

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