Trent Alexander-Arnold hasn’t had the best of weeks.
The right-back was left out of the England squad on Monday after failing to get off of the bench against Italy on Friday, and now his place at the 2022 World Cup looks in danger.
Gareth Southgate himself has admitted that Kieran Trippier is ahead of him in the pecking order at right-back, and while it’s not been explicitly said, Kyle Walker and Reece James are also quite clearly the preferred options in that position too.
Despite being picked for the PFA Team of the Year on three separate occasions, Alexander-Arnold is somehow England’s fourth-choice right-back, and we have to imagine that isn’t sitting well with the 23-year-old.
Indeed, if ever there was a time that Alexander-Arnold had a point to prove, it’s right now, and with his World Cup dreams hanging by a thread, there’s reason to believe that we could see a marked improvement from the defender in the coming weeks.
Alexander-Arnold, and the rest of this Liverpool squad for that matter, are at their best when they’re having to prove a point or prove someone wrong. After all, they’re not described as ‘mentality monsters’ for no reason.
The full-back is at the forefront of that ‘mentality monster’ ethos, and with just six weeks until the World Cup, he will be desperate to show Southgate why he has to be the number one choice at right-back.
The Liverpool star has the chance in these next few weeks to go from being undesirable to undeniable as one of England’s very best players. No player in the last England squad has had more Ballon d’Or votes than Alexander-Arnold in their careers, and now he has to show exactly why he’s considered amongst the very best in the world, not only in his position, but in all of football.
Alexander-Arnold may already be ‘sensational’, but he could be about to get even better as he tries to prove himself to Southgate.
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