Trent Alexander-Arnold perfectly sums up England after concerning struggle at Euro 2024

England needed extra time to scrape through to the quarter-finals of the European Championship in Germany, eventually finding a way past Slovakia. In reality, though, this was not a performance that will live long in the memory for the right reasons.

By the middle of the second half, England was so desperate that Bukayo Saka was at left-back and Phil Foden remained marooned out on the left flank. Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold was still sat on the bench, where he would remain for the entirety, and even Eberechi Eze later spent a decent spell at left wing-back.

Amid a typical performance by England at a major tournament, this was a classic from the Three Lions playbook. Gary Neville likened it to Iceland even with the second half still to go, and he was so nearly proven right.

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It never really felt like England would find the back of the net until Jude Bellingham's overhead kick and a Cole Palmer set-piece which led to Harry Kane scoring from close range turned things around. England must realize it was fortunate and it won't be going much further in the competition if it plays like this again.

Gareth Southgate's teamsheet contained plenty of talent on paper — in both the starting XI and the substitutes — but England has a knack for getting the least amount from the sum of its parts. If there is talent there, the shirt will find a way of painfully removing it. For more than 90 minutes, that was the case here.

In Foden, England has the Premier League's best player of last season. He can play out wide for Manchester City but has shown no signs of being able to effectively at the four matches in Germany — and yet Southgate persisted for an age.

Bellingham was arguably Real Madrid's best player in his debut campaign in Spain. And yet, despite playing a similar role, he just looked exhausted and it is little wonder: the ex-Borussia Dortmund star has already played more than 200 senior games having only this week turned 21. This was his 33rd international cap, which is a staggering total for his age. His late goal at least took the weight off his feet for a second.

And then there is Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool man is the world's best right-back at his peak but has only been played in midfield for England of late. Southgate, like plenty of others, felt that he wasn't good enough defensively to play full-back despite the clear evidence to the contrary at club level. If he can do it in Champions League finals, he can do it against Slovakia. In any case, his upside is enormous and England missed out on it by completely misusing it.

Kane, meanwhile, scored 44 goals in 45 appearances for Bayern Munich last season. At international level, he has barely had a kick, looking like a shadow of his usual self. In fairness, he had very little in the way of chances to feed on; when he did have an opportunity, he made no mistake.

England has a curious ability to get the worst version of too many of its stars. Defensively, it was flawed from the start, but it should at least have had a bit more going forward. It progressed here, but it should be under no illusions: it was undeserved.

Without Alexander-Arnold playing in a position that gets the most out of him, a place in the last-eight never looked likely. Add in Foden, Bellingham and Kane being stunted, Palmer being restricted to a substitute role, and Anthony Gordon bizarrely overlooked, and England's struggles shouldn't be a surprise.

With Alexander-Arnold at international level, a generational talent is being squandered. Unfortunately for Southgate's side, he isn't the only one — even if they get to limp on for the time being.