Trent Alexander-Arnold may have once again been playing out of position for his country but it was a familiar tale for the full-back when he curled a sublime free-kick into the top corner.
A trademark finish that Liverpool fans have become accustomed to over the years, but one that might cost his Three Lions team-mate Jack Grealish.
“I joked to Trent before the free-kick, ‘score this I will give you 500 quid’, and he slapped it in top bin,” Grealish told ITV after the 3-1 Uefa Nations League victory.
Alexander-Arnold’s superb 25-yard free-kick came after Grealish had slotted in the opener and before Declan Rice’s close-range effort sealed England’s success in Helsinki.
It also came despite the 26-year-old playing in the unfamiliar role of left-back, a position he has thought to have never occupied for club or country with the right side being his favoured option.
The switch marked interim England boss Lee Carsley’s latest attempt at experimenting with his squad, having fielded a team without a striker in Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Greece.
At Euro 2024, former boss Gareth Southgate dabbled with playing Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder, but he was ultimately missing from the latter stages of the competition after failing to impress in the role in the group stages.
From left-back, Alexander-Arnold was heavily involved and showed creativity as well as scoring his magnificent free-kick.
But defensive errors and concerns remain and regardless of his position in the team, his presence often splits opinion.
Alexander-Arnold has ‘more than earned his space’
When it comes to passing ability, there is no doubt Alexander-Arnold is one of the best in the business with the Liverpool man’s strengths mainly in positions further up the pitch.
It was the desire to get that quality in the team that led to Southgate playing him in central midfield in the summer. While that decision ultimately did not pay off, it seemed to increase the thought Alexander-Arnold must be played at right-back to get him into the starting line-up.
His deployment at left-back is the latest attempt by an England manager to make space for him in the team, but Carsley said he does not want to get “bogged down” in what position the player occupies.
“There’s no surprises in terms of the quality he’s got and the areas of the pitch we can get him in,” said the interim England boss.
“Trent’s quality speaks for itself. I do not see it that I have to make a space for him, he has more than earned his space.
“We do get bogged down by left-back, right-back but so long as he is in effective positions it is great to have him.”
Despite playing out of position, Alexander-Arnold came out on top for touches (130) and passes (110) – with an overall passing accuracy of 86.4% – as well as being joint top for shots (three) and crosses (four).
He has now played all four matches under Carsley, having only made his first competitive start for four years at right-back for his country in September’s 2-0 win over the Republic of Ireland.
‘I can’t believe how bad he is defensively’
Alexander-Arnold has now been given the official man of the match award in all three of England’s wins under Carsley.
But for all the praise and accolades he receives for his attacking prowess, the defensive displays continue to draw criticism for both club and country.
While no mistake was big enough to prove costly against Finland, Alexander-Arnold did at times look shaky, giving the ball away and missing crucial tackles. The desire to get forward and come inside to get involved with play often leaves the Three Lions short defensively.
“I still can’t believe how bad he is defensively and against better teams he will get found out,” former Ireland captain Roy Keane said on ITV.
“If you saw him the other night defending, it looked like he’d never played right-back before either.”
But Alexander-Arnold, who is out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season and has been linked with a move to Real Madrid, is not the only problem in England’s backline.
Finland did almost match the visitors for chances, with 13 shots and three on target to England’s 15 and six on target.
The Three Lions’ defence is a problem Southgate struggled to solve and Carsley is now facing similar issues, with limited options at left-back and frailties across the park.
That was no more evident than against Greece on Thursday when England were frequently left completely exposed after opting for an all-out attacking strategy.
Alexander-Arnold ‘a liability’ – what you said?
Rob: Trent is a decent defender who is also the best English passer of the ball since Beckham. Not sure I’d play him on the left but anyone suggesting he doesn’t or can’t defend is embarrassing themselves.
Richard: Good to see TAA appreciated for his work tonight by the manager and top pundits. He was first in all the stats but still criticised, keep going Trent.
Loveeverybody: So Trent Alexander-Arnold gets a free-kick but was culpable at least three times for what decent teams would have scored from. He is a liability in defence and despite all the hype his pass success is only 60/70%. Overrated.
‘Moment of the game’ – is Gomes now Phillips’ replacement?
Carsley’s all-attack strategy against Greece did not work and demonstrated that just because England have an abundance of forward players at their disposal, it does not mean they should all be used in the same team.
At Wembley on Thursday the ambitious gameplan of packing his side with Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden looked exciting on paper, but lacked balance and exposed the side’s defensive frailties.
Carsley opted for a more settled approach against Finland and utilised midfielder Angel Gomes alongside Rice to provide stability in midfield and further protection for the defence.
During Euro 2024, Southgate said England had never managed to find a suitable replacement for holding midfielder Kalvin Phillips, who was a standout player at Euro 2020 but fell out of form after joining Manchester City.
But Keane said on ITV that Gomes’ sublime assist for Grealish’s 18th-minute opener was “the moment of the game”, while Matt Upson – commentating on the match for BBC Radio 5 Live – said it was a “big moment” for the Lille midfielder, 24.
“Gomes is a really interesting player,” added Upson.
“You see his stature and then you see him play the game and see that he’s always creating time for himself. His anticipation is good and he has real discipline with what he does on the pitch, playing the ball sideways and backwards.
“It was a big moment for him to show that he can get into that position and create an assist with the quality that he did.”
