Trent Alexander-Arnold suffers blow as Liverpool star waits for news on future

Lee Carsley's cryptic England comments on his future may have a direct impact on Trent Alexander-Arnold .

The Liverpool defender scored the fourth international goal of his England career on Sunday. Finland can be added to United States, Malta and Bosnia & Herzegovina as countries against whom the Liverpool right-back has found the net.

Except that he wasn’t on the right for this match, with Lee Carsley deploying Alexander-Arnold on the left of his back four . This was a first for the 26-year-old. He once started for the Reds in central midfield, against Stoke City in 2018, but he has never been positioned as far from his regular role before.

Unlike Gareth Southgate, though, Carsley has been keen to have Alexander-Arnold somewhere in his England side. It has paid off for the interim manager, but his future may have a negative impact upon the international hopes of the Liverpool man.

• Jordan Henderson proves Liverpool loyalty with message to Trent Alexander-Arnold

• Jack Grealish owes Trent Alexander-Arnold £500 after Liverpool defender proved him wrong

Alexander-Arnold won the Player of the Match award in the 3-1 win over Finland, just as he did for the pair of 2-0 victories against Republic of Ireland and Finland in the previous international break. As England suffered a defeat in its other match this season – 2-1 to Greece at Wembley last Thursday – no player was deemed to have been the best.

So, while it has been widely pointed out that Trent has been the Three Lions’ top man in three of their four games in 2024/25, in reality he has a 100 per cent hit rate from the occasions in which a Player of the Match has been named. It all feels a long way from when the Premier League and Champions League winning-defender was underused by Southgate and frequently scapegoated by the media.

There are some pundits who are still quick to criticise him, of course – hello, Roy Keane – but Carsley has merely done what most people would have done for years. Why Southgate didn’t trust a defender who has been part of Liverpool’s best defense in the Premier League era (in 2018/19) is a mystery. He presumably spent too long listening to the likes of Keane and Gary Neville rather than observing the mistakes which the likes of Kyle Walker and Reece James often make.

With Carsley in the hotseat, Alexander-Arnold’s international hopes look far brighter. However, quotes from the former Republic of Ireland international where he admits he is not the man for the job. “I think that this job deserves a world class coach who has won trophies. I am still on the path to that,” Carsley said.

Hopefully whoever gets the England manager gig on a permanent basis is more Carsley than Southgate as far as Alexander-Arnold is concerned. His elite club performances may otherwise go unrewarded by regular international recognition, which feels unjust.