Editor’s Column: It’s time to have the Trent Alexander-Arnold position conversation

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Before the start of this season, I would vehemently support Trent Alexander-Arnold when people who watched him much less carefully than I do criticised his defending.

He’s not a bad defender. He just isn’t. Jurgen Klopp wants him in those positions. Etc. etc.

I’m not sure if I was wrong or if Trent is just having a nightmarish season, but I can no longer claim he’s good defensively on the back of this campaign.

The problem is it looks like he just doesn’t want to do it anymore. I’m a massive Alexander-Arnold fan, but his defending has simply not been up to scratch. He’s struggled in one on ones, positionally and has for some reason decided not to track runners. It’s not been good enough. At times, it’s actually looked like he’s not trying very hard, which is a horrible accusation and one I don’t even feel comfortable putting into writing. But the body language has been poor.

Of course, this is a generational talent we’re talking about. One of the most skilful, technical players Liverpool have ever produced and someone Jurgen Klopp will always want in his side for what he offers creatively.

We’ve still seen the absurdly impressive cross-field passes, some great crosses and wonderful long-balls this term. It’s not his ability going forward; it perhaps hasn’t reached the heights he has in previous seasons but it’s not a weakness. It’s just the defending.

So what do we do?

Well, he needs a spot in the side. There’s too much potential for brilliance. He’s a match-winner. But the question is whether fielding him in the back-four is too much of a defensive risk. I was always of the opinion that if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. Why would we move Alexander-Arnold into midfield when he’s already providing all these assists at right-back and Liverpool are winning nearly every game as a result…?

Now though, Liverpool are broken. The confidence has been lost this season and as soon as something goes wrong in a game, we crumble. Trent is one of the biggest crumblers during negative moments, too.

As a result, there is a legitimate argument for probably the first time that he should move further up the field.

With Liverpool usually playing 4-3-3, there are three potential positions. As the deep-lying no.6, or as one of the more advanced no.8s, with the role to the right of the DM the more obvious one for Trent.

Back in 2021, Klopp hinted that he would prefer Trent in the central role, although in the same sentence seemed to dismiss the idea as a mistake.

“In a game that we are that dominant that Trent could play in midfield, I would rather he was the six than in this case the eight,” Klopp said, regarding Gareth Southgate’s positional experiment.

“That is possible but why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don’t understand that really.

“As if the right-back position is not as important as the others. People who say that I struggle to understand how you could think that.”

As the no.6, Trent would pick up the ball in deep positions and be able to spray his longer passes into the channels for the likes of Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah. However, his weakness in tracking runners might be exposed, considering the defensive requirements of this position is no less than right-back, really.

At no.8, although in theory Trent would be allowed more freedom to attack, he’d actually get less space to do so and his passing range would be limited.

For me, the best option is for Trent in a double pivot, with a more advanced midfielder slightly ahead of him and one other as his defensive partner. Klopp has used this formation plenty; notably against Manchester United recently when Liverpool fielded Fabinho alongside Jordan Henderson and Harvey Elliott slightly advanced in support of the attack. Away to Real Madrid, he fielded four attackers, meaning Fabinho and James Milner were used in the pivot.

This position would still see Trent picking the ball up in his own half, with time to turn and analyse, but would offer him a partner to walk him through the game. Could Henderson alongside him in this set-up be beneficial?

The difficult thing is that it’s not exactly a great time to experiment. All our games are must-win, to an extent, if we’re to finish in an unlikely top four spot. And Calvin Ramsay, Trent’s backup right-back, is injured and out for the season anyway.

Milner and Joe Gomez would be better defensively at right-back, though, and given our consistent lapses, I wouldn’t be averse to Klopp picking one of those two in our big upcoming games, with the wild-card of Trent in midfield or off the bench.

Perhaps pre-season though is the best time for him to properly hone a new role, meaning Liverpool will need to buy a top new right-back alongside the required centre-back and multiple midfielders.

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