GARETH Southgate’s desire to turn Trent Alexander-Arnold into a central midfielder was clear before England had even played their first game at Euro 2024. Handed the number eight shirt for the tournament, many predicted the Liverpool right back would start Sunday’s opener against Serbia in the middle – and they were right.

The idea of Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder has been floated for years. He is, after all, one of the best long-range passers in the game and WAS harnessed as a footballing quarterback by Jurgen Klopp in some matches for Liverpool this season. And yet this is an experiment England must ditch for the rest of Euro 2024.

Alexander-Arnold’s limitations as a central midfielder were exposed against Serbia. The 25-year-old nearly cost England a goal as he turned over the ball inside his own half, leading to a dangerous shot from Aleksandar Mitrovic, and was slack in possession whenever pressed by the opposition.

Not only this, but Southgate’s idea of Alexander-Arnold as the best passer in the England squad is flawed. It’s certainly true that the 25-year-old can pick out a teammate from 30 yards away, but he lacks the quality needed for a team to build rhythm in the centre of the pitch. He doesn’t play quick five-to-10 yard passes in the way Toni Kroos or Rodri does.

If Southgate were to be completely honest, his decision to use Alexander-Arnold in central midfield comes back to his mistrust of the Liverpool player at right back. That, of course, is his natural position, but Southgate has publicly highlighted Alexander-Arnold’s weakness as a defender in that area.

By crowbarring Alexander-Arnold into his team, though, Southgate is compromising England’s broader structure. He has good options in the centre of the pitch. Conor Gallagher, Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton all lack tournament experience, but have their own qualities that could help The Three Lions.

Against Serbia, Jude Bellingham dropped deep a lot to help dictate England’s possession play. Could the Real Madrid superstar be utilised in the number eight position in place of Alexander-Arnold? With Bellingham deeper in central midfield, Southgate would have the freedom to bring someone like Cole Palmer into his attack.

“I spoke to Trent about playing in this role over a year ago,” said Southgate when asked about his vision of Alexander-Arnold as a central midfielder. “It’s not something he’s been doing for the last five years. There is an element of the unknown. But I think it’s an opportunity that’s worth grasping because he could be incredibly special.”

Alexander-Arnold isn’t the first England player to unwisely repurposed as a central midfielder. Many believed Wayne Rooney would ultimately drop deeper as he got older, but the legendary Everton and Manchester United forward, like Alexander-Arnold, never had the true pace-setting ability to operate in that role.

England have a long history of starting slowly at major tournaments. Sunday’s victory over Serbia was only the second time The Three Lions have started a European Championships with a win. Southgate and his players had the opportunity to ease themselves into the tournament, but tougher tests are on the horizon.

Southgate got away with his Alexander-Arnold experiment against Serbia, but higher calibre opponents will do more to expose the flaw in the plan. The purpose of an experiment is to try something new and learn from the results. It’s now on Southgate to adhere to the second part of that. Alexander-Arnold isn’t the central midfielder England need in Germany this summer.

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