Ian Wright shares his honest thoughts on Trent Alexander-Arnold playing as a left-back for England

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Although Lee Carsley's time as England manager appears as if it will only be short, he will be remembered for giving Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold the opportunities he deserves.

Alexander-Arnold has played 90 minutes in all four of Carsley's games in charge as England manager, and the Liverpool defender even played in an entirely new role vs Finland.

Carsley didn't quite experiment to the same degree as he did against Greece at Wembley last week, but he did still roll the dice by playing Alexander-Arnold at left-back.

By all estimations, it was the first time that the Liverpool defender had played on the left side during his senior career thus far.

But given it was akin to an inverted role into midfield, leaning on Alexander-Arnold's right-foot, the 26-year-old never looked too uncomfortable.

In fact, Alexander-Arnold was still feeling confident enough to dispatch a wonderful free-kick into the top left corner of Finland's goal, another reason why he should always be in the England team.

Ian Wright thinks Trent Alexander-Arnold at left back was just a one-off

That being said, when speaking on ITV Football's coverage of England's 3-1 win, Ian Wright shared his thoughts on Carsley's experiment of playing Alexander-Arnold on the left.

Wright seemed to conclude that this was just a one-off, but was fairly impressed nonetheless.

Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images

READ MORE: Roy Keane slams Trent Alexander-Arnold despite 'lovely goal' for England vs Finland

Wright said: "I don't think there is much he could have done defensively where you can look at and think, okay, yeah, that's a position he is going to play very often, but, like, from a creative point of view, you can see that Lee Carsley wants as many creative players in the deep end of a football team to create, and Trent is one of those he believes, yeah, he played him on the left. 

"I can't see it being something that will happen too frequently, but at the same time, offensively, his passes, it was his pass that led to Angel Gomes doing his bit of quality. Some great passing in the game."

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s contract situation at Liverpool still unsolved

Of course, among all of Alexander-Arnold's success this season under Arne Slot and for England, the full-back's contract situation will still be on the mind of Liverpool fans.

Liverpool's hierarchy are confident that Alexander-Arnold will sign a new deal, but until pen meets paper there's always going to be a slight worry.

Although Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk would both be huge losses leaving as free agent as well – if it comes to it, Alexander-Arnold's situation feels a bit different.

The Englishman is still just entering his prime years, it would be a terrible time for Slot's project to lose such a talented player.

But fortunately it does also seem as if there's strong interest on Alexander-Arnold's part to sign a new deal as well.

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