You can debate the merits of his defending forever, you can argue his skill set is particularly suited to his club’s style of play, you can highlight the intense competition for places in his favoured position.
But one thing is beyond question, one thing is indisputable. If Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold cannot make it into a squad of 23 footballers, it must be one hell of a squad. Simple as that.
Yet for this blue-chip fixture - and regardless of its Nations League irrelevance to England, this was a blue-chip fixture - Gareth Southgate deemed Alexander-Arnold to be of no use to him.
