'England's best' - Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold praised in national media round-up
Trent Alexander-Arnold had a September international break to remember, picking up Player of the Match awards in each of England's games against Ireland and Finland, but he could not repeat his heroics on his third successive start for the Three Lions.
The Liverpool right-back shoulders little of the blame for the manner of England's defeat on Thursday night - most of that falls on Lee Carsley due to his eccentric tactical approach - but the 26-year-old was still part of a back line that was constantly breached with ease by Greece.
Few, if any, England players emerged with much credit from the defeat, and reporters from the national media had their say on Alexander-Arnold's performance.
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Handing the right-back a 4/10 rating, The Guardian said of Alexander-Arnold: "Kept inverting but his positioning meant that Greece had space when they broke down the left. Passing was off too."
The Daily Mail, however, gave Alexander-Arnold the joint-highest mark of any England player, rating both him and Jude Bellingham at 6/10, saying: "Tried to make things happen and sent a couple of lovely balls over top. Too passive for Greece's opening goal, but England’s best."
Rating Alexander-Arnold at 5/10, The Independent was critical of the defender's hesitance for Greece's opening goal, which was scored by Vangelis Pavlidis, who weaved through England's defense all too easily before slotting past Jordan Pickford. The description said: "Nothing like as inventive and involved as in the last international break from an attacking perspective and too lax defensively, including for Pavlidis’ goal. One good defensive tracking back run late on and a couple of decent balls into the box."
Handing him a 5/10 rating, The Telegraph noted just how high up the pitch Alexander-Arnold found himself at times under Carsley's experimental system, and said that his better form on the night came before he was switched to left-back in the second half: "At times was the furthest-forward player in the fluid ‘Carsball’ system. Lovely cross for Gordon set up a chance and his best work was on the flank rather than ‘inverted’."
Goal also gave Alexander-Arnold 5/10, saying: "Came up with a couple of teasing crosses but without any luck in finding an assist. Greece continually sought to counter into the space he vacated when bombing forward and into midfield."