England beat Serbia 1-0 last night and the midfield was the talk of the town afterwards.
Gareth Southgate did as many suspected and went with Trent Alexander-Arnold in the middle alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham got the winning goal as he once again imposed himself on a major tournament, while Rice was as busy as ever in front of the back four.
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, also acquitted himself well, albeit he sloppily gave the ball away a few times to put England under pressure.
However, praising both his midfield partners, Arsenal star Declan Rice has spoken highly of the new-look England midfield.
Declan Rice gives Trent Alexander-Arnold verdict after England beat Serbia
Speaking to TalkSPORT after the win over Serbia, Rice spoke highly of Jude Bellingham, but also shared a kind word for Trent as well.
“I don’t need to talk about how good he is, I think you see at Madrid every week and have seen it again tonight. The match winner. When I’m holding I have just got to let him flourish and do his thing, let him feel like he has the confidence of the pitch to go out and do whatever he wants,” Rice said.
“The more we play together I feel like the connection and bond we have together is really, really good and with Trent tonight, who I thought played really well, first time playing a CDM role. I thought it was a good trio”
Trent will improve with time
There was always going to be this spotlight on Alexander-Arnold regardless of the result and it’s nice to see and hear Rice standing up for him.
In fairness to the Liverpool man, he did play well and at times, on the ball especially, he looked a massive threat and very nearly scored with a wonder strike.
This midfield three will improve and get better as the tournament goes on.
Trent, then, should start the next game and develop his relationship with Bellingham and Rice further.