Lee Carsley's view on Trent Alexander-Arnold will be relief to Liverpool fans

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s England career is set to take off under the guidance of Lee Carsley. Despite being a key player for Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold has only made 31 appearances for England in six years since his international debut.

That is largely due to struggles in finding his best position and a focus on his perceived defensive weaknesses rather than his world-class talent on the ball.

However, Carsley insists he will focus on the player’s strengths rather than his deficiencies. Speaking about Alexander-Arnold, the interim England manager said: “I’ve tried to always do that.

“I think we’re lucky that the first thing I look at in a player is what they’re really good at, rather than what they can’t do. The stuff they can’t do we try and hide.

“I think it’s something I’ve improved on. When I first started coaching, I coached players like I played which, as you can imagine, wasn’t very good to watch.

“Sometimes it’s difficult to adjust your eye to players who are more creative and make more mistakes, but make more chances and create more chances and they hurt the opposition more. So I’ve had to adjust to my way.”

Carsley’s comments will go down particularly well with Liverpool supporters who have fiercely defended their vice-captain against arguments from rivals that he is not good enough defensively.

The former England manager Gareth Southgate appeared to agree with such a notion given he went for the more defensively solid, but nowhere near as impactful offensively, Kyle Walker at right-back.

Former Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was left bewildered by the question marks put against Alexander-Arnold’s ability two years ago. The German said: “When we do a high press Trent is often the highest of all those at the back. That is the way we play football.

“Now, you can say: ‘You should defend better,’ but you cannot have everything because if you want to play high press you need players in specific positions.

“If the next ball goes long on that [right] side then Joel [Matip], Ibou [Konate] or Joe [Gomez] has to cover him. It is the risk we take.

“It is not a crazy risk and we win the ball nine out of 10 times, but in the one moment we don’t win it people ask: ‘Where is Trent?’ That is a question I don’t understand from people who watch football so often.

“People say that is his main job but I told him he has to be there [higher up the pitch]. Yes, there are other situations where he was not aware or there was a challenge he should have won. Every player has these challenges.

“But with him? Every time it is picked up and analysed, all the experts saying this is a weakness. Honestly, I just don’t get it. A world-class talent gets judged by the one thing he is not as world class at as the other things?

“If he was not a good defender, he would not play.”

And now, Alexander-Arnold will play regularly for England as well as Liverpool. If he’s anywhere near as good as he was against Ireland and Finland, many a match will be decided by his superlative ability in possession.