Case not proven: England recall Trent Alexander-Arnold on patchy Madrid form
Thomas Tuchel said Trent Alexander-Arnold had enjoyed a good start to the season — news that came as a surprise both to those in England who have not been watching him at Real Madrid and, in truth, to those in Spain who have. If the England manager did not see enough in Alexander-Arnold to include him in the World Cup in the summer, he has not really had the chance to see enough to change that decision as autumn begins. Two unremarkable league starts provide insufficient evidence with which to make a case for the full-back's recall, or indeed his exclusion. He is in the squad nonetheless.
A midfield experiment that backfired
Alexander-Arnold's most high-profile match this season came against Inter at the Santiago Bernabéu, where he started from the middle of midfield. At the pre-match press conference, José Mourinho had refused to answer a direct and apparently well-informed question about employing the right-back in midfield, given the absence through injury or suspension of Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Guler, Bernardo Silva, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Thiago Pitarch, as well as his determined conclusion that Jude Bellingham is better used further up.
In the post-match press conference, however, Mourinho was more candid. He said he had no other option, thanked Alexander-Arnold for trying and admitted that the “specifics” of midfield were different from those of full-back, mentioning physicality and perspective on the pitch. In short, this had not worked, and Alexander-Arnold is not a midfielder.
That, of course, is not a reason to exclude him for England — Tuchel was clear that the former Liverpool player had been called up as a right-back. Nor, though, has Alexander-Arnold made some great change in his natural position after a first season in which he played 30 of 56 Madrid games.
In and out of the starting XI
Absent from the World Cup, Alexander-Arnold was one of eight players able to join Mourinho at the start of pre-season. That might have given him a head start, and the arrival of another coach offered him the chance of a new start too, but it has not worked out that way.
On the opening day he began on the bench, coming on with ten minutes remaining as Madrid finally found the late Carlos Espí goal that defeated Espanyol. He then sat out their 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. In both matches, Denzil Dumfries — the right-back signed over the summer — began ahead of him.
Against promoted Málaga, currently 19th, Alexander-Arnold got 90 minutes and produced a performance, greeted with enthusiasm, which suggested maybe this could be a new beginning. This, one Madrid-based paper said, was “a new Trent”. It was the kind of performance that could lead, eventually, to an international call-up. He had more touches and completed more passes than anyone else, created two chances and provided Kylian Mbappé with the assist for Madrid's third goal in a 4-0 win. The pass was very much his kind of pass, and there were others too — a range and precision that impressed.
Little followed
Not much followed. Alexander-Arnold came on as a substitute against Real Betis with the score at 0-0 and they lost 1-0 to a Troy Parrott goal; he played 26 minutes. Against Rayo he remained on the bench. And against Elche in midweek, he was withdrawn with three minutes of normal time remaining, with Madrid having let a 2-0 lead slip to be drawing 2-2. Again, a late Espí goal saved them.
It had been a night of rotation; the conclusion drawn from Alexander-Arnold's inclusion was that he is not going to start the derby against Atlético on Sunday. Dumfries, notably, has made four starts in the league and one in the Champions League. The doubts about Alexander-Arnold's defensive capabilities had not been allayed in that Elche game or in the previous few. Of six league matches, he has started two, been introduced in two and sat out two. There has been one assist — and one international call-up.