Ireland have too much reality at the moment, whereas England have another problem, which may also be revealed as a problem for Jurgen Klopp at the Etihad today.

Gareth Southgate’s caution as a manager has revealed itself in his treatment of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Injury ruled Alexander-Arnold out of the European Championships three years ago, but he may not have made the squad anyway. At the World Cup last year, he played 33 minutes in the final group game against Wales and that was it.

Southgate felt he had better players in that position, but it was more that he was looking at Alexander-Arnold through a conventional filter and didn’t see what others, particularly Jurgen Klopp, could see.

During Liverpool’s rise under Klopp, Alexander-Arnold brought another dimension to play by being a right-back of dizzying talent. “I can see things others can’t see,” he said ahead of the Champions League final in 2022.

It was a truthful statement. Alexander-Arnold was different to other full-backs. The role he played almost defied definition which was unfortunate for him as people kept trying to define it, particularly in terms of what he couldn’t do.

A full-back had certain duties and responsibilities. It was a position for Gary Neville, not somebody who spoke as if he had a sixth sense, seeing things nobody else could, even if it was the truth.

“Nobody wants to grow up to be a full-back,” Neville said, echoing Jamie Carragher’s gag that nobody wants to grow up to be Gary Neville, a statement that might be bigger than any one position.

Yet Liverpool had someone kids would want to be. Alexander-Arnold played a game as if it came from a different planet. There was no point looking at what he did in terms of the traditional expectations of a right back. The game he played was entirely different to how the game had been played in that position before. Klopp knew this. Southgate, conservative, rigid and mediocre, didn’t.

Liverpool thrived. Alexander-Arnold had started as a midfielder as a kid at Liverpool but moved into defence. As Klopp built a team with a midfield which was highly functional, he became a critical visionary on the wing. What he gave Liverpool in that position was far greater than anything they lost.

“They have no idea about football,” Klopp said in 2018 when Alexander-Arnold was criticised for a goal Marcus Rashford scored.

“Why would you make the best right back in the world a midfielder?” Klopp asked in 2021 when some wondered again why a player of Alexander-Arnold’s obvious creativity was wasting this abundance of talent on the margins.

“Tell the Kraut to get his ass upfront. We don’t pay a million for a guy to hang around in defence,” a New York Cosmos executive said after Franz Beckenbauer went to America in the 7os and Alexander-Arnold seemed to be a victim of the same thinking.

Ahead of the Champions League final in 2022, Alexander-Arnold made his remark about seeing things other people can’t see, but the game was decided by his failure to spot Vinicius Jr as Real Madrid defeated Liverpool.

As Liverpool’s midfield faded, the defence became more and more exposed. Alexander-Arnold was becoming a liability defensively while it became harder to have the impact he once had. When he left for the World Cup last November, he hadn’t a single assist for the season.

Liverpool’s rebuild this season has allowed them to feel they are being restored. They return from the international break a point behind Manchester City but Jurgen Klopp has won only once at the Etihad, on his first visit.

As part of that rebuild, Alexander-Arnold is playing what is called a hybrid role, moving between midfield and full-back. He is in midfield when Liverpool have the ball, he has explained, and at right-back when they don’t.

Klopp may still be ambivalent about this move, but England seem to have found a role for Alexander-Arnold in midfield and that may make things harder for Liverpool.

"He’s always been a super player,” Southgate said during the international break. “The hard part has been that, in the position he plays for his club, we have a lot of really good players. What I have always felt, having seen him in the junior teams with England, is that his technical ability will translate into midfield. His vision and ability to play passes in that position are different to anyone we have in that area of the pitch."

After his performance against Malta, those who get excited watching England overrun poor opponents were getting excited. England are at the fantasy stage of their cycle. Alexander-Arnold brought another dimension, they said, and it was possible to see a fever building.

“You probably get more out of me from being in the middle and I’m able to show off that skillset as much as possible,” Alexander-Arnold said, when it may be that in midfield you don’t want to show off that skillset as much as you’d think.

This is where he is different to others like John Stones or Philipp Lahm who have moved from defence to midfield. Alexander-Arnold’s defining characteristic is extravagance. It was explosive and devastating on the right but can be overdone in midfield.

The comparison is really with Steven Gerrard who fought so long to play in centre midfield when he was really effective further forward or on the right.

But the fever gripped him, telling him that he would be at his best in this elite position which was most fitting for a player of his talents.

Alexander-Arnold has a different temperament. He has been part of a club that is successful and well managed. This wasn’t always the case during Gerrard’s time when it was understandable that he developed a saviour complex.

Alexander-Arnold has no need for those compulsions but still the conservative voices tell him he must conform. In doing so, in trying to be something else, he may risk what is best about his game.

So he will move into midfield when Liverpool have the ball and move into defence when they don’t. Anyone who observed him during Liverpool’s peak might be tempted to think it would be better the other way round. When Liverpool have the ball they miss him on the right and when they don’t he might be as valuable in midfield.

But, most importantly, the Etihad may not be the place for this ongoing experiment.

"It's still early days, I haven't had much experience in there, so I'm still learning on the job and picking it up as much as I can when I am in there," he said this week.

Liverpool’s experience of chasing City is that it is a relentless task. Their record at the Etihad is poor. They are trying to pursue a club driven by excellence, funded by a petro state and which may one day face punishment for the 115 charges it’s facing.

City can afford mistakes, they can tolerate luxuries which don’t work out but that is not the case for their most persistent challengers.

Liverpool and Klopp have no room for manoeuvre and no room for learning on the job.