Trent Alexander-Arnold’s first start under Thomas Tuchel gave England the breakthrough they needed against Czechia, and it gave the full-back a reminder of what he can offer at international level. England won 2-0 in Prague for their first victory in Nations League Group A3, with Anthony Gordon heading in Alexander-Arnold’s cross early in the second half before Harry Kane added another goal. The game had been changed by Czechia losing Pavel Sulc to a debatable red card for catching Anderson’s achilles midway through the first half.
The assist was a classic Alexander-Arnold moment. After a broken passage of play, a loose Czechia pass reached him on the right. He did not wait for support or check back inside; instead he took the ball out of his feet and crossed for Gordon, taking the opposition out of the equation. It was the kind of pass that England had lacked when they were chasing the game against Spain, and it underlined the vision Alexander-Arnold has long believed sets him apart. He once said he always feels he can see things others cannot.
The contrast with Saturday was hard to miss. Jarell Quansah started at right-back in England’s defeat by Spain and his crosses did not hit the mark. Alexander-Arnold, by contrast, tends not to miss the target with his deliveries. Yet he remained an unused substitute against the world champions, even when England were chasing an equaliser and could have done with better service from the flanks.
For all the promise of this performance, Alexander-Arnold’s England story remains one of false dawns. He turns 28 next week and made his international debut eight years ago, but the Czechia game was only his 35th cap. Injury ruled him out of Euro 2020, and successive managers have found it difficult to fit him in. Gareth Southgate left him out at times, was reluctant to use him at right-back, and the experiment of playing him in midfield at Euro 2024 was swiftly aborted.
Tuchel has often seemed ambivalent about him. The England manager has questioned Alexander-Arnold’s defensive knowhow and left him out of his World Cup squad. Alexander-Arnold’s only previous minutes under Tuchel had come in a cameo in midfield against Andorra in June 2025, and eight players featured at right-back before his return against Czechia. There was a sense that he was only in this squad because others were unavailable, and it remains to be seen whether a corner has been turned in his relationship with Tuchel.
The defensive debate will not be settled by this match. The general consensus is that Alexander-Arnold cannot defend, a view Andy Robertson rejected last week when he told the Stick To Football podcast that his former Liverpool teammate has shut down Kylian Mbappé in the past. But Czechia’s dismissal reduced the game to a different contest. They moved into a 5-4-0 system and Alexander-Arnold spent little time in his own half, so the night told us little about his defending.
England had made a ropey start, with an unfamiliar back four struggling before the red card changed the flow. Alexander-Arnold looked rusty at first, had little chemistry with Bukayo Saka and produced some loose touches. A wayward crossfield pass could have started a Czechia counterattack, something Tuchel will have noted. But his game is about risk and unbalancing opponents. Tuchel felt a tweak in his position at half-time helped.
Alexander-Arnold will not fix England’s lack of control in possession on his own; those flaws are collective rather than individual. But he is one of the best passers England has ever produced, with 86 assists in 354 appearances for Liverpool, and he is a threat in multiple scenarios. He is a wildcard option who can create and score from set pieces and open up a deep defence. Southgate not bringing him on when England were 2-1 down to France at the 2022 World Cup was an oversight. His defending will be tested against better opponents, but against Czechia England needed his ingenuity.