If you missed Trent Alexander Arnold’s performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina last week, picture Marco van Basten volleying the skin off a high ball from a tight angle into the far corner; picture Hakim Ziyech swerving a 60-yard pass onto his teammate’s big toe; picture Lionel Messi’s invisible throughball to slice open Netherlands. Alexander-Arnold did all of that in one night.
Even allowing for a little journalistic hyperbole, and noting that he was up against the plucky but toothless Bosnia in a friendly, this felt significant. After years on the fringes of England’s first XI, we saw the effect of Alexander-Arnold as a No 6, an intriguing solution to Gareth Southgate’s conundrum of who to play alongside Declan Rice behind England’s preferred No 10, Jude Bellingham. Reports this week suggest the manager is seriously considering this trio for the first group game, against Serbia on Sunday.
