If you ever find yourself surprised by the omission of an established footballer from a national squad, the explanation is generally extremely simple — that footballer hasn’t played very well for his nation in the past.
Be honest, do you even remember which countries England played against in the last international break of 2020? How about the three results? Any idea who was named England’s man of the match for each of those games?
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If you’re drawing blanks, that’s entirely understandable in this chaotic season. England’s 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland, 2-0 loss to Belgium and 4-0 victory against Iceland are now, at best, a very distant memory.
But this particular international break — the one in late March after a glut of pure club football since mid-November — is always the time when absolutely everyone completely forgets about past England performances. Meanwhile, the England manager has them at the forefront of his mind.
Two years ago, for example, Gareth Southgate selected Fabian Delph, which prompted confusion because Delph hadn’t played regularly for Manchester City in the months beforehand. The reason, Southgate was forced to explain at his squad-unveiling press conference, was that Delph had — by popular consent — been England’s best player in their previous game.
This time, the reverse has happened: Southgate has been forced to defend an omission. Trent Alexander-Arnold, arguably the best right-back in European football, isn’t in the England squad.
The headlines led on Southgate suggesting Alexander-Arnold’s club form has dipped compared to his two previous campaigns, which is unquestionably true. But this was really a decision based upon Alexander-Arnold’s previous England performances. “I don’t feel that he’s hit the level he’s hit with Liverpool here with England — and other players have,” Southgate said.
It is worth clarifying that Southgate evidently believes in Alexander-Arnold’s talent. He named him in his World Cup 2018 squad when the right-back was an uncapped teenager and had only made 20 Premier League starts in his career. He has earned 12 caps since then, over half of them as part of the starting XI, but hasn’t ever really performed well for England, aside from scoring a fine goal in a 3-0 victory over the United States in November 2018.
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Southgate will remember Alexander-Arnold’s poorer games more clearly, particularly as they’ve come more recently. He was caught out of position for a concession against Kosovo in a 5-3 win at the start of last season, and, more significantly, has looked very uncomfortable since Southgate reverted to a system featuring wing-backs.
It is often assumed that a wing-back role automatically suits an attack-minded full-back, but in practice, they are very different positions. Alexander-Arnold was forced to do more off-the-ball running, was often receiving possession in tighter spaces higher up the pitch, and struggled to cover the space behind him defensively.
That was particularly evident in the 2-1 win over Belgium last October, when Roberto Martinez’s side seemed to target his defensive shortcomings. In fact, Alexander-Arnold was the worst of the three natural right-backs in the England side that night, with Kyle Walker impressive as the right-sided centre-back and Kieran Trippier adapting well to being deployed on the left. Alexander-Arnold, in the role the other two would probably have preferred, was poor and got replaced with Reece James for the final 10 minutes.
Three days later, for a 1-0 loss to Denmark, James started instead of Alexander-Arnold and was unquestionably England’s best player on the night, constantly rampaging down the outside and sending crosses into the box that his team-mates somehow didn’t take advantage of. James played first as a wing-back and then at full-back after the dismissal of Harry Maguire, and looked extremely comfortable in both positions. Southgate will have noted that adaptability.
It should be noted that James was dismissed after full-time against the Danes for dissent, but his performance in the 90 minutes was excellent. In his subsequent start against the Republic of Ireland, that 3-0 win a month later, he twice showed good defensive intelligence by sweeping up when a centre-back had been dragged out.
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And this is how Southgate has arrived at his conclusion. Walker has been selected because he’s comfortable in a back three, and with John Stones’ return to form for Manchester City, Southgate can reprise the Walker-Stones-Maguire trio that helped England to the semi-finals of the last World Cup.
Trippier has been selected because he has consistently played well for England, his set-piece expertise has been crucial in important games, and his versatility is useful in tournaments.
And, finally, James has been selected because when he and Alexander-Arnold have been given opportunities to play for England, the Chelsea man has performed better, perhaps partly as he is more accustomed to playing as a wing-back at club level.
No one doubts that Alexander-Arnold is the most talented of the four, just as no one doubts that his performances at club level since Russia 2018 have been the best of the quartet by a distance. But selecting an England squad is not, contrary to increasingly popular belief, the equivalent of picking your fantasy team for the weekend’s Premier League fixtures. It’s about developing a cohesive side, asking players to perform a specific role and rewarding good performances with future selection decisions.
It is fair to question why England haven’t seen Liverpool-spec Alexander-Arnold.
Southgate admitted he “has to look at himself” as to why he hasn’t got the best from such a talented player, but it’s unfair to lay the blame at the England manager’s door. He has handed the Liverpool defender opportunities, in a couple of roles, over the space of two years. For whatever reason, it hasn’t yet worked out.
Successful international sides are generally not picked on the strength of performances at club level. Vicente del Bosque was loyal to his core group of Spain players, even if out of form, as he believed previous national team performances were more relevant than recent club displays. For years, Germany would unfailingly pick the likes of Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose despite below-par seasons at club level, because they kept on doing it for the national side. Paul Pogba has sometimes been underwhelming for Manchester United, but his national team place has never been under threat, because his France displays have been good.
On the other hand, England’s last top-class generation of footballing talent underachieved, in part, because Sven-Goran Eriksson eternally expected major players to eventually replicate their club performances for the national side, despite all evidence to the contrary.
Many supporters will inevitably disagree with Alexander-Arnold’s omission based upon his talent and his Liverpool displays, but an England manager picking an England squad on the strength of England performances — which many fans have long since forgotten about — is not a great scandal.
(Top photo: Michael Regan/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
