Cast aside by England, what happened to Trent Alexander-Arnold's dream summer?

This was supposed to be a breakout summer on the international stage for England and Trent Alexander-Arnold. They were considered one of the strong favorites for the Euro 2024 title and Trent was viewed as a potential game-changer for Gareth Southgate.

His supreme passing range and vision would allow him to pick from the bevy of superstars in this England side as they would take their country on a wild ride to Berlin.

Well, only half that story has happened. While England have somehow scraped by the likes of Slovakia, Switzerland and most recently Netherlands on the way to the Euro Final, they have not looked good doing it.

Their miracle run has been witnessed not by Alexander-Arnold in the midfield shining, but mostly from the bench.

Midfield experiment a failure, but not really?

The big excitement coming into this tournament was we were finally going to see Alexander-Arnold playing in a true midfield spot alongside Declan Rice.

He had done so well in his hybrid inverted role with Liverpool and previous matches with England that he was seen as the key to the Three Lions making a deep run.

However, despite starting the first two group stage matches, Trent was taken off quite early both times with each game still in a contentious place. Southgate had the audacity to say the team missed someone like Kalvin Phillips in midfield, a clear dig at TAA.

Despite his own coach trying to scaepgoat him for the entire team playing quite average, the eye test and numbers would show Alexander-Arnold was the best creative force they had.

In the second group game, a 1-1 draw with Denmark, despite being withdrawn after only 54 minutes of action, Trent would still lead England in chances created and progressive passes.

The truth of the matter is, the players around him were languishing as well and Southgate had to find someone to axe and it was Alexander-Arnold.

England making the Final does not justify dropping TAA

On a personal level, I believe England have reached the Euro Final in spite of Gareth Southgate via extremely clutch individual brilliance, luck and some dodgy refereeing.

However, Southgate can point now to his decision to all but freeze out Trent as a turning point. To Alexander-Arnold's credit, he has been nothing but professional. Just a look at the Quarterfinal win where he played 5 minutes out of the 120 on offer and still kept his cool to smash home the winning penalty in the shootout.

It was a brief respite for a player that was supposed to be announcing himself on the international stage this summer but his own manager has taken the chance from him.

He wasn't even restored at right-back, just out of sight and out of mind to the gaffer it seems.

You cannot tell me there are four better players in this England side than Alexander-Arnold. He should have been given the chance to go on this wild ride with his countrymen on the pitch, going through the emotional and physical rollercoaster.

Liverpool could reap the benefits of this snub

Alas, while he still might play some kind of role in the Final, even with an England win, it won't be the same for him. He'll of course say all the right things about being proud of the boys, but internally you know this is killing him.

One silver lining of this comes from a Liverpool perspective that has seen one of their most important players not overly taxed while still making the Final.

Whatever happens against Spain, he should return to the club in a fully motivated mood ready to prove any naysayer wrong with his play. The Arne Slot era is already underway and TAA will be able to get a fresh start and begin leveling up once again.

A bitter Euro 2024 shunning could create the best version of Alexander-Arnold that we've seen. So much so that come World Cup 2026, there will be no way this happens again.