Why England boss Thomas Tuchel is wrong not to call up Trent Alexander-Arnold for World Cup | OneFootball

Look far enough down the list and eventually you will find him. Below Phil Neal and Viv Anderson, David Bardsley and Earl Barrett, Warren Barton and Danny Mills. Scroll down far enough down the English right-backs in Thomas Tuchel’s pecking order and finally Trent Alexander-Arnold’s name will appear.

Maybe, anyway. Because if two things were entirely unsurprising – that Tino Livramento was ruled out of the World Cup and that Alexander-Arnold was not summoned to replace him – they were extraordinary nonetheless. Alexander-Arnold plays for Real Madrid. He is a triple Champions League finalist, a double Premier League winner, a player who has been in both the FIFPro World XI and the Champions League’s team of the season. He is the defender who has made the most goals in Premier League history. And he now seems, at most, England’s seventh-choice right-back.

Because he appears to be behind – perhaps in this order, perhaps not – Reece James, Livramento, Djed Spence, Ezri Konsa, Jarell Quansah and Trevoh Chalobah, the man summoned to replace the luckless Newcastle defender. Had Chalobah been sidelined, perhaps the ultra-versatile James Garner would have been chosen ahead of Alexander-Arnold, too. Certainly, Tuchel had begun his reign by ranking Kyle Walker ahead of the Liverpudlian; Gareth Southgate did, too, but with the significant difference that Walker was terrific then. Tuchel ignored evidence of the roadrunner’s decline until last year’s defeat to Senegal presented irrefutable proof.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold now seems to be, at most, England’s seventh-choice right back (Getty)

All of which suggests his attitude towards Alexander-Arnold has gone beyond the sphere of logic. Tuchel seems to want fewer distractions from his supporting cast, perhaps fewer questions why they are not playing. Alexander-Arnold was not the only big-name omission from the squad.

Yet if some of the back-ups were picked in part for their role off the pitch, there were always reasons to opt for the two finest right-backs. James’ quality on the ball makes it possible to construct an argument that, unlike many another countries, England might not necessarily need Alexander-Arnold’s passing and crossing skills. But Tuchel’s old ally is no stranger to injuries himself. Should the Chelsea captain be ruled out, the job of the reserve right-back is more than merely making up the numbers in training.

And then who plays right-back? Spence, presumably, for his pace going backwards. Yet if some of Tuchel’s squad construction appeared based on the notion of choosing two players for every position, his fondness for centre-backs who can fill in on the right seems to know no bounds. Konsa and Quansah are being joined by Chalobah.

The loss of Livramento was sadly foreseeable. He deserves plenty of sympathy; even at 23, there is no guarantee he has World Cups to come. But he is sadly injury-prone and missed the last month of the Premier League campaign, even before a calf problem curtailed his visit to the United States.

Then there is Alexander-Arnold, a world-class talent left to his own devices. And that ability tends to be displayed more on the ball than off it, and if Tuchel is not alone in harbouring doubts about his defensive abilities, it is nevertheless true that Liverpool, under first Jurgen Klopp and then Arne Slot, were able to achieve a great deal with him.

His shortcomings were rarely exposed (and one of those who did trouble him, Vinicius Junior, is now a club teammate, even if Tuchel may have noted he is a potential opponent in a possible World Cup quarter-final).

The German is not the first England manager to find Alexander-Arnold a quandary; but in Southgate’s time, he had Walker and Kieran Trippier at their peaks. It nevertheless feels a waste of quality that Alexander-Arnold began Euro 2024 in midfield and faces a World Cup at home.

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Trevoh Chalobah has been called up to replace Tino Livramento (Getty)

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Thomas Tuchel clearly does not fancy selecting Alexander-Arnold (PA)

An England career which has only yielded 34 caps in eight years has not seen his potential realised on the international stage. Yet he was arguably England’s finest player in the Lee Carsley interregnum. That seemed a breakthrough, after the end of the Walker-Trippier duopoly. Instead, James was the ultimate beneficiary.

And amid the focus on what Alexander-Arnold can’t do – or what he is perceived to lack, anyway – there may be insufficient emphasis on what he can do: the extreme creativity, the ability to play passes that only a handful of players on the planet can execute.

Which England could require, especially if James is sidelined. The first-choice right winger, Bukayo Saka, has injury issues of his own. Cole Palmer, who can cut in off the right to create, was another who did not make the cut under Tuchel. England could face a World Cup knockout tie with a right flank of Spence and Noni Madueke.

It is Tuchel’s way. But it feels a needless way of squandering the rare gifts of a unique player and it might cost England.