The debate will run and run until early June when Gareth Southgate names his squad for the Euros.
We are all assuming the England manager will include Jack Grealish in his party so that probably leaves just one possible omission that would be contentious.
Trent Alexander-Arnold.
It is fair to say there has been a surge of support for the Liverpool defender. Unsurprisingly, Jamie Carragher believes Alexander-Arnold should start against Croatia on June 13 and Gary Lineker considers it unthinkable the 22-year-old will be overlooked.
I have always been a big fan of Alexander-Arnold’s and would probably still have him in the England squad but if you wanted evidence why he was not selected last time around, here, in pretty gory detail, was Exhibit A.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Brutal as it might sound, cruel as it might seem, this could just have been the night when he played himself out of the Euros.
It was not just his latest assist – this time a thoroughly unwanted one for Marco Asensio – but it was the way he was exposed by, among others, Ferland Mendy.
The Real Madrid left-back skipped around him as though he was bypassing a traffic cone early on.
And while he was one of very many in a red shirt, Alexander-Arnold’s squandering of possession was symptomatic of Liverpool’s performance in a lamentable first half.
He is such a talent, Alexander-Arnold is allowed a bad game. Again, he was certainly not alone and he improved after the break.
And judging it right or wrong to have him out of the squad based on the vagaries of club form between now and June would become tedious.
But this might be the final word. Southgate picked three right-backs ahead of Alexander-Arnold – after this, he will have to go some to get past one of them.
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