How far past England’s first, second and third-choice XIs would Alexander-Arnold be?

If every player could only be used once, how deep into a selection of England XIs would Trent Alexander-Arnold reside? After Jaidon Anthony, for one.

Alexander-Arnold continues to split the opinion of pundits, players and managers, with Thomas Tuchel seemingly as unconvinced by his suitability to the team as Sir Gareth Southgate.

The Real Madrid defender is not a bad egg, just a uniquely talented footballer whose ability is difficult to harness and build around at international level with limited opportunities to prepare.

But after Alexander-Arnold was overlooked in a 35-man pre-World Cup squad, then ignored again when right-back cover had to be drafted in, it got us wondering how deep into the XIs one would have to go to find the former Liverpool man.

England’s first-choice XI

Almost all of the spine picks itself, with perhaps the only question mark surrounding Bellingham given his fitness and difficulty in establishing himself under Tuchel.

His tournament pedigree, the sub-optimal form of his main rivals for the No.10 place and the degree to which it would rile Craig Hope still put the Real Madrid man as the favourite to start.

And one of the last spots properly up for grabs has been taken: even before his Carabao-winning turn, Nico O’Reilly had put together a compelling case.

England’s second-choice XI

If that entire first string was struck down by some dodgy pre-match lasagne, this lot would be entrusted to step up into the breach.

And again, most of it really is quite straightforward. The losers of the positional battles across the pitch to start in the United States are dotted around: Your Rogers’, Your Rashford, Your Whartons, the Chelsea academy alumnus turned accomplished Newcastle full-backs of this world.

There is a healthy pang of nostalgia to be had from simply staring at that centre-half pairing. If anything, a Maguire-Stones-Henderson axis brings too much experience.

England’s third-choice XI

They may be in apparent direct competition for places, but the next cabs off the midfield rank would be Carrington graduates James Garner and Kobbie Mainoo.

That is a distinctly Arsenal-flavoured forward line, which also helps underline how far from relevance Cole Palmer has fallen when not talking to Paul Tierney about quite how they have both wound up there.

England’s fourth-choice XI

It was only a handful of months ago that Foden was trialled as Kane’s back-up at centre-forward. Having not scored in any competition since mid-December – and only assisted a single goal in that time – the 25-year-old has faded from view.

Alex Scott was unfortunate to miss out on Tuchel’s latest squad and is even less lucky to line up next to a Spurs player and behind two Newcastle wingers.

Ben White is back in the fold in a damning indictment of Alexander-Arnold’s standing, and ready to roll his eyes every time someone asks whether he genuinely doesn’t like football.

England’s fifth-choice XI

In a heavily-hyphenated, hard-working, fast-paced fifth-choice England XI, recent retiree Walker returns from a self-imposed and remarkably flimsy exile.

“I’d be available, obviously,” he said when asked what would happen if he was needed in an emergency. “For me to say no to my country, I’d never do that. But I need to close the book. I’m not leaving with one right-back and saying, ‘I’m out of here’. It’s not a position that’s short. I feel the cover they’ve got in my position is more than adequate to go on and win a tournament.”

But once those reserves are used up, it still feels as though Walker could easily get the nod ahead of Alexander-Arnold as a better stylistic fit with tournament experience who is playing more regularly and has even featured for England more recently.

Walker and the ageless Danny Welbeck would dominant the dressing-room playlists.

And yes, that is Jaidon Anthony.

England’s sixth-choice XI

The most expensive uncapped English player in history, a one-cap-one-goal specialist and an Arsenal teenager on the right wing – just not that one.

Oh and Alexander-Arnold, being ‘utterly wasted’ like Paul Scholes but hopefully preparing to enjoy his well-earned retirement far more quietly.