Trent Alexander-Arnold was left out of the England squad against Germany on Monday evening casting all sorts of doubts around his international future.
With the World Cup just six weeks away, the right-back’s place on the plane to Qatar looks to be in danger, and the sad reality is that he may not be going to the World Cup.
Alexander-Arnold’s England career has been strange to say the least. He’s quite possibly the best player in the world in his position having made the PFA Team of the Year on three separate occasions by the age of 23, but he has the same number of international caps as a 19-year-old Jude Bellingham.
Competition is, of course, fierce at right-back, but we can’t help but feel that Alexander-Arnold may go down as one of the most under-capped England players of this generation.
Just like Matt Le Tissier, Les Ferdinand and Ledley King before him, Alexander-Arnold may go down as one of the best players of his generation but he might never get the international acclaim he deserves.
With Gareth Southgate bafflingly desperate to play a conservative brand of football, Alexander-Arnold’s attacking strengths are stifled within this side, and therefore, a player like Reece James or Kyle Walker may always be preferred.
That could change with a new manager, but the stark reality is that England don’t have a defence trustworthy enough to accommodate for a right-back like Alexander-Arnold.
The Liverpool star works so well for the Reds because the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip can cover for him when he goes forward, but would any manager trust Harry Maguire, Conor Coady or even Eric Dier to do that same job? We can’t see it.
The sad truth is that Alexander-Arnold is the right player at the wrong time for England, and he could be set to follow in the footsteps of a player like Le Tissier and receive fewer international caps than he deserves.
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