England cruised to a 2-0 win against Finland in the UEFA Nations League; Harry Kane scored twice in his 100th Three Lions appearance; Lee Carsley wins first two games as interim manager

Was this how it might have been? Trent Alexander-Arnold was winning only his 31st England cap in six years. He may never make it to 100 England caps wearing the captain’s armband and a pair of golden boots at Wembley. But on nights like this, he wears, figuratively speaking, a pair of golden boots of his own.

The forgotten man of England came in from the cold anew in the second game of the interim manager’s tenure. Lee Carsley has been clear on Alexander-Arnold from the start. “I see him as a right-back,” was how Carsley framed his initial assessment of the man from Merseyside, and he has been true to his word. Right-back is where Alexander-Arnold has been deployed, with additional midfield duties, against the Republic of Ireland and now Finland. From right-back is where, it could be said, he ran the game on Tuesday night.

Alexander-Arnold was the converted midfielder for Euro 2024, first adapted by Gareth Southgate and then dropped as the former England manager searched desperately for a rhythm. Of course, the pressure of the Euros summer is very different to games against two Nations League opponents who have, in these two games, caused England not a single problem from an attacking point of view. But even so, this was Alexander-Arnold in his element.

His pass for Noni Madueke to break the line for Harry Kane’s second goal was a classic Alexander-Arnold ball. He had seen it was on before anyone else in the stadium. There was not a shred of doubt when he hit it. It was also Alexander-Arnold’s assist for Kane’s first, although that might not even have been in his top four passes of the night. He dispatched another delicious late right-to-left ping to substitute Eberechi Eze that was the kind one sees only from a player who does not believe he can miss.

This summer, at least until Southgate dropped Alexander-Arnold for the third group game against Slovenia, he was asked to perform the playmaker role at the Euros. It was by no means an insignificant request, a position for which England has struggled to mould a player to fit at the elite end. Alexander-Arnold did not even do a bad job of it, despite the way it would end. Yet with Angel Gomes performing that role for England on this occasion, it was obvious why Alexander-Arnold is better suited elsewhere.

He does not need the ball as often as a playmaker gets it, which is not to say he did not have plenty of the ball. Only Gomes completed more passes, 116, than Alexander-Arnold on 82. Yet it is much more about where Alexander-Arnold gets it. Gomes circulated the ball with energy and without fuss. He has quick feet and sharp instincts. There were many times when the England dominance meant Alexander-Arnold could join him in midfield.

But Alexander-Arnold’s best work comes when he does the really difficult stuff. He is a much more daunting threat when he comes off the right side with enough space and time to be able to make his mind up about the pass. He can see the pitch and a much broader range of options than he can when asked to do the relatively simple job of circulation required of a conventional No 6. On this night, Alexander-Arnold created the most chances — five — of any player. No England player can match his record of five or more chances created in a game on three occasions since 2019.

What next for Alexander-Arnold? The absence of Kyle Walker made it easy for Carsley this time, and as one of the greats of the current generation, Walker is a difficult man to leave out. He is 34 years old but there has been no suggestion that he wants to call it a day, 10 short of his own century of caps. In the six years that Alexander-Arnold has amassed his 31 caps, Walker has won 55. Alexander-Arnold has started just three games at tournaments in that period, and featured only as a substitute in another four.

That pre-tournament injury which ended Alexander-Arnold’s hopes of playing at Euro 2020 three years ago has not helped but it remains Walker’s England career which has been the single greatest block on that of Alexander-Arnold.

Walker is the better defender. He is an astonishingly consistent performer capable of dominating the right side. But even against the Finns, a team of limited horizons, Alexander-Arnold is capable of doing things no one else can. A creative presence of that quality in the right-back position can pull opponents out of shape. Alexander-Arnold is very hard to stop in this form. You could see it by the end of the game in everything he did – here was a man who looked like he was enjoying it.

Not every side Alexander-Arnold and England face in the next two years will offer as little threat as Ireland and Finland have done. Although this England team is changing, and Carsley’s plan to risk more playmakers in the side like Gomes and Rico Lewis will benefit Alexander-Arnold, if that is to be the way forward.

Alexander-Arnold will be only 27 at the time of the next World Cup finals and he has a big decision before then on his Liverpool future. Walker will be 36. As for the rest of the competition, Carsley made it clear that it will be up to Ben White to declare himself available for England and as yet that situation has not changed. It has been a long road for Alexander-Arnold to establish himself for England. This could finally be the moment.