If England fail in Qatar it won’t be because they left out Alexander-Arnold

Obsession around the Liverpool player is a sideshow – England have three other high-class right-backs who all play in multiple positions

England's Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Maybe, just maybe it’s all going to be OK. Yes, there is no sensible universe in which a chaotic 3-3 draw looks like the tournament send-off of champions. And yes, one of the first rules of film states that the moment anyone suggests things might just be OK is a guarantee that, in fact, they’re definitely going to be anything but.

Never open the cupboard door. Never shout ‘Who’s there?’ into the darkness. Never sing along happily to the radio in the shower. And never, ever, approach a major tournament convinced that an underwhelming England can wing it, that things might click. They don’t click. There is no click.