“Not tonight lads”.
Three simple words, but they told the story.
They were the words of Trent Alexander-Arnold, little more than half an hour after full time after he had been hauled off during England’s draw with Denmark, as he walked through the mixed zone in the Frankfurt Arena. You could hardly blame him.
Gareth Southgate’s midfield experiment, starting in the tournament opener against Serbia and continued into that meeting with the Danes, simply hadn’t worked. The Liverpool man had looked like a fish out of water, struggling at a time when those around him were similarly far from their best and struggling to breathe in the heat of a major tournament.
Southgate’s decision to substitute him so abruptly early in the second half - something very unlike the Three Lions boss, a manager who is reactive by nature, a reputation which this tournament has only further crystallised - was telling, perhaps even shocking.
Alexander-Arnold hadn’t been happy to come off. Others could easily have been hooked too. But they weren’t. Those who the England boss trusts remained.
However, his experiment was written off with a very public admission that he and his coaching staff had been wrong about the man whom they had handed the No.8 shirt in Germany.
Image:
Getty Images)As he walked out towards the exit, his head down, his hood up, past over 100 TV reporters, journalists, camera operators and UEFA staff in the bowels of the stadium, Alexander-Arnold’s words weren’t spoken with any malice. There was no anger. Instead, it seemed, there was acceptance.
And, it was clear, he was utterly distraught.
He duly played just six minutes of the final group game against Slovenia, as England slogged to a goalless draw, and was then an unused substitute in the last 16 comeback against Slovakia. At half-time of the latter, Gary Neville cried out: “Trent Alexander-Arnold, it is illegal that that lad is not playing football in any game like this for England today.
“We cannot have Kyle Walker and Trippier at left and right back when we're on the ball most of the time.”
When the news broke in midweek that England would be reverting to a back three to take on Switzerland in their quarter-final meeting in Dusseldorf, the Alexander-Arnold question reared its head again.
Image:
The FA via Getty Images)Among supporters, there was an assumption that this was it, he would return to the starting lineup at right wing-back, particularly with Bukayo Saka potentially moving to the left side - where he had finished up against Slovakia.
But Southgate, being Southgate, said no.
His reasons were two-fold: The security he believes Trippier brings, and a desire to keep two-time England Player of the Year Saka as close to the position where he shines for his club on a weekly basis as possible.
As it turned out, he got the decision right; had Saka not been down the right he wouldn’t have scored England’s equaliser and the game wouldn’t have reached extra-time.
But when there, with six minutes remaining of the additional period and penalties fast approaching, Southgate turned to Liverpool’s vice-captain, getting him on the field well in advance of football’s biggest test of nerve, knowing that he would be his fifth and final taker.
And when his country needed him to show not just his technical quality but his mental fortitude, his heart and his ability to toss all of the noise to the side, the 25-year-old stepped up, smashed an unerring spot-kick into the net and fired the Three Lions into the European Championship semi-finals.
Image:
Getty Images)“I can’t tell you how pleased I am for Trent Alexander-Arnold,” said Gary Lineker. “He’s had a slightly tough time out here, there’s no doubt about that. Put in midfield in that experiment that didn’t work out because the team weren’t cohesive.
“To step up, come on as sub late on, to step up and have the penalty to win the game after being on the pitch for six minutes, the guy’s a technician he’s a wonderful footballer.”
Similarly, over on ITV, Neville admitted: “He’s had a tough England career. Just trying to establish himself in the position he plays for his club, as a midfield player. He might not have thought he would get many more minutes at this tournament. So this, this was a brilliant moment for him.”
Image:
The FA via Getty Images)As Alexander-Arnold stood taking the acclaim of his team-mates and the coaching staff in front of the travelling Three Lions support in Dusseldorf and then shared a private moment in the tunnel with Prince William, those three words in Frankfurt couldn’t have seemed further away.
Instead, he had three more that summed up the moment perfectly: "Pressure makes diamonds".
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