The Real Madrid defender and former Liverpool captain has been excluded from England's 35-man squad for the March international break
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold was left out of Thomas Tuchel's England squad(Image: PA)
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has been informed that his England prospects are over, whilst Thomas Tuchel remains in charge. The German boss named a substantial 35-man squad for the March international fixtures, in which the Three Lions will take on Uruguay and Japan.
Tuchel opted to select five goalkeepers for two matches, including Jason Steele, who currently serves as understudy to Bart Verbruggen at Brighton, and James Trafford, who has been backup to Gianluigi Donnarumma at Manchester City. Meanwhile, Fikayo Tomori was recalled after an extended spell away from the England setup, Jude Bellingham was named despite his recent fitness concerns, and Danny Welbeck was overlooked despite outshining Dominic Solanke, who was selected, for most of the campaign.
Max Dowman was also excluded from the squad despite his exploits at Arsenal, although the manager acknowledged during a press conference on Friday that circumstances could alter ahead of this summer's competition in North America. Nevertheless, the most significant controversy was Tuchel's choice to leave out Alexander-Arnold from his plans, having endured difficulties since his contentious switch from Liverpool to Real Madrid before last June's Club World Cup.
Puzzled by the decision, the Liverpool Echo released a hastily arranged Make Football Great Again podcast in response to Tuchel's selections on Friday, where Harry Brent, John Cross and Jeremy Cross discussed their interpretations of Tuchel's choices.
John stated: "I'd be picking Trent Alexander-Arnold all day long, every day and twice on Sunday." I think he's supremely talented. There's an amazing stat that basically he's only played 33 minutes at a World Cup in his career.
"I mean what a terrible kind of look that is for English football and such a talent. But I think the reality is that here, Tuchel doesn't fancy him, does he? He really doesn't. You know I looked it up yesterday because obviously I did think that today was going to be a Trent story and it was going to be D-Day for Trent. His last cap came in June 2025 and I think it's obvious that he's clearly... Tuchel's not his cup of tea.
"I think you've sort of got to look at it maybe, 'Is he offering enough defensively?' That's the issue here, isn't it? And although Tuchel kind of, you know, sidestepped it, was diplomatic and said, no, it's not over yet, I think he is.
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John went on to say: "I'd think it would be easy to say and wrong to say that, 'Blimey, he's not even made it 35 players and that includes Reece James being out injured. Well that's fine, but what would be the point in picking him if he just doesn't feature in his mindset for the World Cup? So, Reece James's injury is almost irrelevant, because yes, he could pick him and Reece James is out.
"Actually, if Reece-James is coming back and he doesn't fancy the player in him, what's the point of giving him false hope? I do think that that's the points here. I think Trent is a big omission, it's a big story. For me, my big takeaway was Harry Maguire's recall. I think that's really fascinating. I think it's a positive story, but there's no doubt about it, the biggest omission if you like, the biggest shock factor story is Trent's omission, without a shadow of a doubt for me."
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Asked whether he believes Alexander-Arnold's England career is over, John added: "Yeah, absolutely. I don't think he's got an England future under Tuchel. It's as simple as that. I think it's not the player, it's the profile of player because basically you cannot, you will not convince me that Djed Spence, who I thought was a brilliant call-out, and basically I love the fact then that he got capped and that he was so kind of rewarded for good form...
"But he's been out of form lately. His form has mirrored Tottenham's form. You know, I've seen him a couple of times recently and he was better on Wednesday night in fairness to him, but I'm surprised that he's kept his place. You can't possibly argue that, basically, that Djed Spence would be above Alexander-Arnold, I think, on talent right now.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Thomas Tuchel(Image: PA)
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"But I do think it's obvious to me that it's not about Trent and personality. It's about the profile of player. He sees him as too attack-minded, doesn't fit into his game plan, doesn't fit into his tactics and formation for what he sees as an effective and efficient defence, and therefore he's left him out.
"I just don't see a way back for Trent, unfortunately. I think he's a real crying shame, by the way, under Thomas Tuchel. That, I think, is glaringly obvious, blindingly obvious."
Looking ahead to the 2026 World Cup, England will face Uruguay on Friday, 27 March. They will then take on Japan on Tuesday, 31 March.