Let’s stop this nonsense – Trent Alexander-Arnold is an elite right-back, England must play him there

There’s always a clear trend of the ‘narrative’ of England at major tournaments regardless of whether they win or lose.

Many people expected the gap between opening Euro 2024 group stage games against Serbia and Denmark to be dominated by talk of whether Cole Palmer should start. Us at 90min towers had even long planned for such an eventuality, as is the predictable nature of the noise around the Three Lions.

Instead, we’ve been treated to a few days worth of Trent Alexander-Arnold discourse. How delicious.

Alexander-Arnold has been used largely, though not exclusively, by England as a midfielder over the last 12 months. When he was handed the number eight shirt for this summer’s European Championships, it appeared a rather telling hint at the role he would have in Germany.

Lo and behold, Gareth Southgate tasked Alexander-Arnold with playing in central midfield alongside Declan Rice in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Serbia.

England’s display was praised for its grit, but there were a number of star players who have felt the brunt of particular criticism, with Harry Kane, Phil Foden and Alexander-Arnold seemingly the main antagonists.

In the case of Alexander-Arnold, his performance was pulled apart for a perceived lack of defensive nous – he most notably gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty area before Aleksandar Mitrovic lashed a shot into the side-netting – and not enough desired impact going in the other direction.

The defence of this positional experiment has been that Alexander-Arnold has the requisite attributes of a top midfielder and can hurt teams while playing higher up the pitch in a central role. It’s a theory that works better as a theory rather than an actuality, like when TV analysts conduct simple audits which involve moving a player and saying they should stand somewhere else instead.

There is a strange fantasy about Alexander-Arnold in midfield that ignores the obvious – he is one of the world’s leading right-backs and has been for over half a decade.

That’s his position. He’s showed it time and time again for Liverpool. That’s who he is, for better or worse. Even when his abilities are questioned defensively, the 25-year-old still delivers the goods in the final third and the numbers don’t lie.

Alexander-Arnold is unfortunate that England have strength in depth at right-back. But at this point, it feels as though Kyle Walker’s importance in games…