Trent Alexander-Arnold has every reason to feel aggrieved with Gareth Southgate’s decision-making during the March international break.
While his form for Liverpool this season can be described as inconsistent at best, the right-back will have still felt miffed to have been left out of the latest England squad. And when Reece James withdrew from the camp through injury, he can feel hard done by that he wasn’t called up as a replacement.
But the biggest insult to the defender will have been Southgate bemoaning a lack of English talent available to him, as the Three Lions boss suggested he may need to start selecting from "the Championship or elsewhere" in future due to a decreasing number of English players in both the Premier League and Champions League.
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"The numbers are the numbers. They're not going up," Southgate said earlier this month. "It has been around 32% but that's down from 35% when I took over and 38% in the years before so the graph is clear - there's no argument about that. (And) 28% has happened in a couple of weekends in the last few weeks…
"I think we've got four left-footed left-backs in the Premier League at the moment so we will have to start looking in the Championship or elsewhere. It becomes more complicated [to succeed]. What's the best way to judge our players? The Champions League.
"If you look at Champions League minutes this year we are sixth on that list - we're actually behind Brazil and Portugal. If breaking into the team is the foundation, the Champions League and the upper echelons of the Premier League is the finishing school.
"The rest of Europe get their foundation in their own domestic leagues and then the cream is sold around the big five leagues and they get the finishing school at the end.
"At the moment we are a long way behind France and Spain on those numbers and it is really interesting that Brazil, who obviously have a really powerful domestic league, now have as many players playing Champions League - or more than we have."
In the latest 20-man England squad, 11 players have played Champions League football this season, with a further two featuring in Europe’s elite competition earlier in their careers. Five players had at least played in the Europa League, with the final two never playing continental football.
Southgate would initially name a 25-man squad for Euro 2024 qualifiers against Italy and Ukraine, only to lose Nick Pope, Reece James, Mason Mount, Phil Foden and Marcus Rashford to injury. Fraser Forster would replace his fellow goalkeeper, but no new outfielders were selected, while Luke Shaw would then find himself suspended after a red card in Naples.
From that mini list, James, Mount, and Foden have played Champions League football this season, Shaw and Rashford have in the past for Manchester United, while Pope boasts one solitary Europa League qualifier under his European belt.
So, from 26 players selected, 14 have featured in the Champions League this season, with a further four appearing earlier in their careers. With Arsenal poised to qualify for next season, such numbers will admittedly rise later this year.
Then consider Alexander-Arnold and the four other England players who were included in Southgate’s squad for the 2022 World Cup but missed out in the March international break. Raheem Sterling, who is a Champions League regular like the Liverpool defender, missed out through injury, but Ben White and Conor Coady have only ever played Europa League, while Callum Wilson has never played in Europe.
As a result, 16 of Southgate’s last 31 players selected over the last two international windows have featured in the Champions League this season, with a further four enjoying such nights in the past.
From those 20, only Jordan Henderson and Sterling can better Alexander-Arnold’s total of 54 Champions League appearances. Meanwhile, only Harry Kane and Jack Grealish have bettered his total of seven outings in the competition so far this season.
With Alexander-Arnold one of just five players selected to have actually won the European Cup, with Liverpool team-mate Henderson the only other player to feature in multiple finals, the right-back’s experience in the elite competition is unrivalled.
Yet despite the tournament being ‘the best way to judge our players’, it wasn’t enough to earn the 24-year-old an international call-up this month. Or even a reprieve once James pulled out injured.
Yes, his form this season hasn’t been the best. There is no escaping that. But the same can be said for a number of players who Southgate selects regardless.
Kyle Walker and John Stones have both been limited to 14 Premier League starts from Man City’s 27 league matches this season. Such totals rise to 17 and 15 respectively from 35 when you consider the Champions League.
Meanwhile, Kalvin Phillips has made just eight appearances for Pep Guardiola’s men across both competitions this season since his summer move from Leeds United. All have come from the substitutes’ bench. All three would start England’s opening Euro 2024 qualifier against Italy, with the two defenders retaining their place against Ukraine.
Sterling has struggled in a disappointing season for Chelsea, scoring four Premier League goals having started 16 of the Londoners’ 27 league games. He has at least fared better in the Champions League, making seven starts and scoring three goals.
Elsewhere at Stamford Bridge, Mason Mount has put in arguably the worst form of his career so far amid uncertainty about his future. His seasonal record stands at three goals from 25 Premier League and Champions League starts.
As for Reece James, injuries have limited him to just 11 Premier League starts. All three players would have been playing for England this month if not for injury.
While the trio missed out, Ben Chilwell and Conor Gallagher were both called up. Yet injury has limited the left-back to nine Premier League starts, while the midfielder, who has started 11 times, is nothing more than a squad player.
Then, most memorably of all, there is the case of Harry Maguire at Manchester United. Despite being Red Devils captain, poor form in recent years means he has long since stopped being first-choice and he has made just five Premier League starts this season as a result. Yet, he remains one of the first names on Southgate’s teamsheet.
We can point the finger at Liverpool too, of course, with Henderson equally suffering a poor season. Making 18 starts across Premier League and Champions League, he still gets an international call-up.
In contrast, Alexander-Arnold has made 33 appearances for Liverpool in ‘the finishing school’ Southgate refers to this season, with 30 coming from the start. Clearly, his absence is a case of one rule for one and another for everyone else.
The England boss just doesn’t fancy the Reds defender. Winning 18 caps since being handed his international debut in June 2018, 14 have come from the start with 10 of those coming in competitive action.
Yet with the majority of such starts coming in final group-stage games when qualification to major tournament knockout stages is already secured, third place play-offs, Nations League outings, and qualifiers against the footballing giants of Kosovo, Montenegro, Andorra, and San Marino, it hardly screams the record of a player who has his manager’s trust.
Alexander-Arnold has rarely shown his best form for England, but how could when he boasts an international manager who needs no excuse to overlook him, the same as his critics need no excuse to discredit him. Had it not been for an injury to James, he arguably would have missed out on the World Cup.
His latest snub is the newest blow and one that will not have not surprised him in the slightest. There are reasons to overlook the defender on current form, for sure, but Southgate is perhaps being hypocritical when other struggling stars seemingly aren’t held by the same standards.
And that’s without even considering the fact that Alexander-Arnold remained a squad player at best when at top form, winning every major honour on offer to him and being lauded as the best right-back in the game.
If Southgate came out and said Alexander-Arnold just wasn’t for him, or made clear his reasons for repeatedly snubbing the defender, you could at least respect his decision-making more, even if you don’t agree with it.
His treatment of the Liverpool defender is baffling and his moaning at a lack of English players competing in the Champions League and the upper echelons of the Premier League is laughable when you consider his treatment of one of the most talented of them all. It just doesn’t wash.
Form is temporary but class is permanent. Southgate might be avoiding difficult questions about his treatment of an out-of-form Alexander-Arnold for now, but when the Reds man, who is still aged just 24, inevitably gets back to his best, the England manager’s decision-making will be scrutinised once again.
For now, the Liverpool defender can only look to regain form under the watchful eye of Jurgen Klopp, a manager who trusts him entirely. And whenever the time comes for Southgate’s Three Lions reign to come to an end, Alexander-Arnold will hope that the FA appoint a successor who appreciates him and can make the most of his talents.
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