TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD'S FUTURE BECOMES CLEARER AFTER STARRING FOR ENGLAND IN DUBLIN

On the one hand, the England manager did not sing the national anthem - on the other, the representative from the people’s republic of Merseyside did.

Swings and roundabouts, and all that.

The jeers that accompanied God Save the King - minus the Lee Carsley vocals - inside the Aviva Stadium is a familiar sound to Trent Alexander-Arnold but, often, the boos are from fellow scousers.

Alexander-Arnold sang along though, having not had enough chances to do so during his career. That Alexander-Arnold had, ahead of a decent England display in Dublin, won only 29 caps was one of the few blots on Gareth Southgate’s England tenure.

Oh, that and Southgate’s obvious scepticism over the value of Jack Grealish to the England squad. Oh, and his refusal to give Anthony Gordon more than a few minutes of game-time at the Euros.

This encouraging England performance - albeit against an extremely limited Irish team and albeit for only one half of football - felt like a fresh start for three players who, over differing lengths of time, never truly convinced Southgate of their worth.

Gordon did not have too much time to convince the ex-boss but Alexander-Arnold was given his debut by Southgate well over six years ago. He has made over 300 club appearances but only reached 30 for his country a month short of his 26th birthday.

Frankly, it is mystifying.

Let’s talk about his pass to Gordon that should have given the Newcastle forward his first England goal - and Trent the assist of the season - but did lead to the Declan Rice opener anyway.

Even in Alexander-Arnold’s repertoire of Hollywood balls, this beauty was a thing of wonder, a 40-yarder fizzed with a hint of slice that mocked Irish attempts to intercept. No other English footballer can hit that sort of pass.

Southgate knew that and, almost half-heartedly, gave Alexander-Arnold a midfield role at the Euros but when, unsurprisingly, that did not work out well, it was back to the bench, even though Kyle Walker was in an unimpressive vein of form.

One thing is now for sure - as good a servant as Walker has been for his country, Alexander-Arnold should, despite an over-confident error in the second half of a nicely-feisty Nations League contest, be a fixture on the right side of defence, whether that be a four-man or five-man operation.

The reserve of forward-thinking English options is deep enough for Gordon not to be a fixture but, if Carsley gets the permanent gig, you can be certain he will be an automatic squad choice.

There is little reflecting on what England and Southgate got wrong in Germany and they did get to the final, don’t forget. But Gordon only getting six minutes - at the tail-end of a shocking match against Slovenia - was strange.

In the same way Alexander-Arnold did, in the same way most England players did, Gordon took his foot off the gas and made a hash of one very presentable breakaway option and was hooked late in proceedings.

But Gordon reminded people what Carsley, the player’s biggest champion at under-21 level, has long known - he offers a dangerous outlet for the likes of Alexander-Arnold.

While Gordon and a raft of others were substituted by Carsley, Alexander-Arnold made it until the final whistle. And that, in itself, might have felt significant to the Liverpool man, it being only the 13th time he has played a full international match. Mind you, this England start was only his 23rd.

It is true that Alexander-Arnold’s heavily-scrutinised defensive capabilities will be given tests far more strenuous than the one posed by the Republic of Ireland. But if Carsley does stay at the helm, Alexander-Arnold will be trusted.

Despite his stellar play for his club, despite those caps he already has, it has felt like Alexander-Arnold has never really had a fair crack of the whip with his country.

Hopefully, he will get one now.

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2024-09-07T19:14:13Z dg43tfdfdgfd