Trent Alexander-Arnold made his first start under Thomas Tuchel against Czechia on Tuesday and proved the difference in creating the first goal to break down a stubborn defence just after half-time. The England and Real Madrid defender/midfielder/playmaker/nobody-quite-knows-what-er has always confused England fans and pundits alike.
Should he play at right back and attempt to recreate his Liverpool form? What about on the left where he can drift inside to join the midfield? Or maybe we skip the middle man and turn him into England's Luka Modric instead?
The perception that 'can't defend' has followed him
That central midfield ship has probably sailed, and for good reason too as Declan Rice and Elliot Anderson are going nowhere fast, but the perception that Trent 'can't defend' has followed him around from a young age and is partly to blame for the fact at 27, he's racked up only 34 caps.
Trent's fellow former flying fullback, Andy Robertson hit back at the idea this week. 'In Trent's best games he was an unbelievable 1v1 defender,' he told The Overlap. 'I've seen him lock up Mbappe for PSG, in the Champions League finals he was unbelievable.'
'The way we defended was very different. Sadio [Mane] helped me out so I knew I could probably be a bit more aggressive and if I missed hopefully Sadio would be there. The way we played, we allowed Mo [Salah] not to kind of [defend], we didn't want Mo back in our box, so a lot of times Trent was waiting for Henderson to come over so that's where I sometimes felt a bit sorry for him.'
Focusing on what a player can't do
There's an obsession from many with focusing on what a player can't do instead of what they can, and often their flaws are over-exaggerated for effect too. Kai Havertz can't finish (except he can), Virgil van Dijk is too casual (except he's not), Trent can't defend (except he can).
There's a fear that the flaw may be a fatal one, but when a player has strengths as unique as the Madrid man, surely there's a best of both worlds situation where he can play for the national team on a more regular basis.
England's World Cup defined by fear
To be fair to Tuchel's predecessor, Gareth Southgate, the choice for years was between Trent and Kyle Walker – someone who could most definitely defend well. But given the consistent injury problems that Tuchel favourites Tino Livramento and Reece James have, the time to trust Trent should be now, especially as ability to play raking long passes seems to fit pretty well with Tuchel's plan to get runners beyond Harry Kane and behind the opposition's defensive line.
England's World Cup came to be defined by fear, with the fallout of the team's inability to get out against Argentina likely to affect the national psyche for quite some time. The fear of what might go wrong helped create the conditions for Argentina to push them back and eventually win the game.
Would Trent have made a difference? It's impossible to say for sure, but seeing as the winning goal went in via a free header after England defenders fell asleep at the back post… it's not like he would've done a worse job either.
