Gareth Southgate has left Trent Alexander-Arnold out of his England squad for Monday's Nations League dead rubber against Germany, citing a need to pick players he believes in.
England have already been relegated from League A after failing to win any of their five matches, which have also only yielded a single goal.
The Three Lions' form has been especially alarming given the World Cup starts in less than two months, with the Germany game essentially their final warm-up match.
With very little riding on the match at Wembley, it was assumed Southgate might take the chance to give opportunities to those who have been used sparingly.
But Southgate has instead given an indication as to who he does not appear to have complete faith in, with Alexander-Arnold – an unused substitute during Friday's defeat to Italy – among those left out.
Fikayo Tomori, James Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen are reportedly the others set to miss out, while Jack Grealish is suspended.
This exclusion is just the latest blow for Alexander-Arnold at international level, with the right-back seemingly underused considering his importance for Liverpool.
"Of course, he does have a fantastic range of passing, we're blessed with different profiles of player in that position," Southgate told reporters when discussing Alexander-Arnold's irregularity for England.
"If we play with wing-backs, [Kieran] Trippier and Reece James are also exceptional with the ball, in different ways, and we're always having to look at the full package with everything and assess the players on all of their attributes.
"They've all been to Champions League finals, some of them have been to latter stages of major tournaments with us, Trent's won the league, Trippier's won the Spanish league, [Kyle] Walker's won the English league; there are so many good attributes about them.
"It's a really difficult position to make decisions on, but we have to go with the ones we believe [in], and ultimately I'll be judged on the outcome, as we know."
For Southgate, it is not simply a matter of putting Alexander-Arnold in the team and telling him to play his natural game; he operates in a certain way for Liverpool because Jurgen Klopp's system allows him to thrive, and England have not yet managed to find such a solution.
"You can have a style of play and a way of playing, and a balance to the team, that... at Liverpool they find a way of playing that brings the best out of his attributes," said Southgate.
"And that’s what we're all trying to do with every team, you're trying to build a team that accentuates the positives, and within the group protects yourselves against how the opponents might come from you."
RB Leipzig 2-0 Eintracht Frankfurt: Nkunku and Szoboszlai strikes ensure DFB-Pokal defence
Christopher Nkunku and Dominik Szoboszlai scored as RB Leipzig retained the DFB-Pokal with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in Saturday's final at the Olympiastadion.
Nkunku – playing what will likely be his final game for Leipzig amid suggestions he is set to join Chelsea – beat Kevin Trapp with a deflected effort 71 minutes into a tight encounter in Berlin.
Leipzig were rarely threatened by an uninspired Eintracht team, and Marco Rose's men wrapped up the victory when Nkunku turned provider, teeing up Szoboszlai to score five minutes from time.
That meant Leipzig capped a third-placed Bundesliga finish with a second major trophy in as many seasons, while Oliver Glasner's final game in charge of Eintracht was one to forget.
Timo Werner spurned a glorious chance to put Leipzig ahead after four minutes, side-footing straight at Trapp following a lightning counter-attack.
Randal Kolo Muani hit the side netting from a tight angle and Nkunku forced Tuta into a last-ditch block at the other end, but both sides struggled to break their opponents down in a cagey first half.
Eintracht's threat grew after the interval, but Mario Gotze volleyed straight at Janis Blaswich when presented with their best sight of goal, and Glasner's side were swiftly punished.
There was a huge stroke of fortune as Nkunku struck first, the Frenchman cutting in from the left before seeing his shot take two deflections to beat the unfortunate Trapp.
Eintracht never looked like fighting back from there, though, and Leipzig put the result beyond all doubt when Szoboszlai fired into the bottom-left corner after composed play by Nkunku.
Keira Walsh happy as ‘special club’ Barcelona land another Champions League
England midfielder Keira Walsh outlined her ambitions to stay at serial winners Barcelona for the long haul after they sealed a stunning 3-2 comeback against Wolfsburg to lift the Champions League trophy for the second time in three years.
Saturday’s sold-out Eindhoven showpiece was the first time Walsh was part of a title-winning side in the European competition, while club and country team-mate Lucy Bronze is now a four-time champion following a trio of victories with Lyon.
Walsh, 26, joined Liga F champions Barcelona on a three-season deal last September, less than two months after winning the Euros with England, and admitted she is loving the look of her trophy cabinet.
She told DAZN: “It’s been a pretty good year. The Euros, the Champions League, I think if someone was to tell me this was going to happen I wouldn’t believe them.
“To play for Barcelona, for these fans, it’s a special, special feeling,” adding of her future at the club: “Yeah. I think you want to be playing in these games and winning Champions Leagues and this is the club that does that.”
Walsh’s side beat Chelsea to reach their fourth final in five seasons, and had redemption on their minds after a crushing 3-1 loss to Lyon in Turin last year.
Despite being heavy favourites there was a sense of deja vu for Barca, who conceded their fastest-ever opener in the competition when Ewa Pajor netted on just two minutes and 57 seconds.
That brought back memories of Turin, where Barcelona fell behind after just six minutes and conceded twice more before the break.
This time it was just a two-goal deficit at the restart after Alexandra Popp headed home on 37 minutes, but the shock nonetheless forced Walsh and her team-mates to dig deep.
They did so in spectacular style through Patricia Guijarro, who netted twice in two minutes to ensure it was all square after just five minutes of the second period, and Fridolina Rolfo sealed the result with a 70th-minute winner.
Walsh said: “First half, not great for us. I think we kept the ball but didn’t score on our chances, so to score three goals in the second half was incredible.
“We just came in at half-time and Alexia [Putellas] said that if there’s any team that can overturn a two-nil it’s this team and that’s what we did. Patri Guijarro, she’s a special, special player and I think today it’s about time that people recognised that.
“For me the best player in the world.”
Bronze, meanwhile, made history by becoming the first English player to win the Women’s Champions League with two different clubs in her first game back since recovering from an April knee injury.
It was enough to require surgery, which some feared might see her added to the list of Lionesses set to miss the World Cup, but the defender played the full final and looks fit to start England’s opener against Haiti in exactly seven weeks.
Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman was on trophy-presenting duty at Saturday’s final, which got off to a shaky start for Bronze after her error led to Wolfsburg’s opener.
Bronze, who played the full match, said: “Once there was two goals we shut up shop, we made it really difficult defensively, created loads of chances in attack.
“It was difficult for myself and Frido, we both haven’t played for five weeks, obviously I’ve had surgery – I’ve only trained a couple of times. It was definitely difficult but I’m so happy to have played my part for the team.”
Torino 0-1 Inter: Brozovic strike sees Nerazzurri warm up for Champions League final in style
Inter warmed up for the Champions League final with a 1-0 win over Torino to cap off their Serie A campaign.
The Nerazzurri head to Istanbul to face Manchester City on June 10, but the Coppa Italia winners had league business to attend to on Saturday.
Marcelo Brozovic's excellent strike proved the difference, with substitute goalkeeper Alex Cordaz making a superb save to preserve Inter's lead in the second half.
Inter will face an altogether tougher test in a week's time, but for now, Simone Inzaghi can reflect on a job well done in Serie A.
Romelu Lukaku sparked what had been an insipid first half into life when he crafted space on the edge of Torino's area and saw a low strike deflected just wide.
Stefan de Vrij headed straight at Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from the resulting corner, but Torino's goalkeeper was beaten in the 37th minute.
Given space and time on the edge around 20 yards out, Brozovic punished Torino with a fine left-footed strike that nestled in the bottom-right corner.
Brozovic turned provider shortly after the restart, only for Roberto Gagliardini to head wide from close range.
Ex-Inter forward Yann Karomah almost made an instant impact from the bench when he forced a fine save out of Samir Handanovic, who subsequently received an ovation when he made way for Cordaz in the 65th minute.
Cordaz made a stunning save soon after, reacting brilliantly to parry Antonio Sanabria's effort wide and ensure Inter ended their domestic campaign with a victory.
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