Trent Alexander-Arnold: unlocked. Those of Liverpool persuasions may not have batted an eyelid at their right-back's swashbuckling performance here in Dublin.

They are accustomed to his marauding bursts down the wing. They are used to seeing him pop-up in central midfield where he can showcase his passing range to devastating effect.

But those who follow England won't have necessarily recognised this Alexander-Arnold, whose international career up to this point has been average at best.

Alexander-Arnold has often cut a timid, almost forlorn figure, when in an England shirt; lacking in the confidence he usually oozes, carrying the air of an individual playing within himself. Someone frozen by the fear of making an error.

There's a frustration with that, of course. Because we all see the talent, the potential, the ability.

Trent Alexander-Arnold enjoyed a swashbuckling performance at right back in Dublin 

There are those who will pin the blame on former head coach Gareth Southgate for not providing Alexander-Arnold with the conditions to excel

The Liverpool player has often cut a timid, almost forlorn figure, when in an England shirt

Why Alexander-Arnold's international career has stuttered thus far is open to interpretation.

There are those that are adamant the responsibility rests with the player. There are others who will pin the blame on former head coach Gareth Southgate for not providing Alexander-Arnold with the conditions to excel.

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The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But in Lee Carsley, Alexander-Arnold may have found an international manager willing to give him the framework to be finally make his England career a success.

Deployed in his natural position at right-back here at the Aviva Stadium he looked every inch an international level footballer.

His delicious cross right onto Harry Kane's head deserved more, his no look pass into Jack Grealish when under huge pressure Sammie Szmodics garnered deserved pass.

Then, in the 12th minute, Alexander-Arnold looked up, surveyed the landscape, before executing an unerring 50 yard pass into Anthony Gordon's path which eventually led to Declan Rice opening the scoring.

Like a quarterback, Alexander-Arnold was running the show with smatterings of stardust from his magic wand of a right-foot - just like we all knew he could.

But it wasn't just the eye-catching elements of his game that impressed. He was completing the simple tasks well; one touch passing, his positioning - more often than not - was on point. 

But in Lee Carsley, Alexander-Arnold may have found an international manager willing to give him the framework to be finally make his England career a success 

Alexander-Arnold looked up, surveyed the landscape, before executing an unerring 50 yard pass into Anthony Gordon's path which eventually led to Declan Rice opening the scoring

Given Southgate's excellent record at major tournaments, it's hard to negatively judge the calls that he made

Yet more than anything else, he swaggered across the pitch here in Ireland like he was enjoying playing for England. Let's be honest, that hasn't always been the case.

Of course, tougher tests lie ahead before we can genuinely call Alexander-Arnold a post-Southgate success.

Indeed, he appeared to fade at points in the second half.

'If you see how Trent has played this season its very similar to how he has played at Liverpool,' said Carsley.

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'Full backs nowadays are like midfield players, Trent is in the bracket. I thought he was very good today. He got a bit tired at the end but a positive performance.'

But the signs here were promising. Indeed, it begs the question as to why Southgate didn't at least give Alexander-Arnold a run at making the right-back slot his own.

The now departed England boss clearly wanted to shoehorn the Liverpool vice-captain's passing attributes into his side somehow judging by the experiment of using him as a central midfielder at Euro 2024.

The less said about that experiment the better.

Kyle Walker, of course, was the main reason behind's Alexander-Arnold inability to lock in the right-back berth during Southgate's reign.

But, that said, Southgate also preferred Kieran Trippier. It was a similar story with Reece James.

The accusation was always that Southgate simply didn't trust the defensive side of Alexander-Arnold's game amid the overriding sense that the ex-England boss would prioritise solidity over style.

Given Southgate's excellent record at major tournaments, it's hard to negatively judge the calls that he made.

Yet, there is a sense that Alexander-Arnold's failure to excel under his tutelage will generally be remembered as one of the let-downs of Southgate's time in charge.

Alexander-Arnold's delicious cross right onto Harry Kane's head deserved more

Kyle Walker, of course, was the main reason behind's Alexander-Arnold inability to lock in the right-back berth during Southgate's reign

But, that said, Southgate also preferred Kieran Trippier, who has now retired 

But the past is the past and opportunity, finally, beckons for Alexander-Arnold in an England jersey. Trippier has retired, Walker - who was left out of this squad - will be 36 by the time the World Cup starts.

James needs to concentrate on staying fit for Chelsea ahead of anything else after an injury-savaged two years.

It's there for the taking for Alexander-Arnold. He's got everything in his locker to make the position his own for the foreseeable future.

And in Carsley, he appears to have a manager who is prepared to trust him and his game - defensive warts and all.

The era of Alexander-Arnold is here. In fairness, we've been waiting long enough.