Trent Alexander-Arnold changing role at Liverpool again

By Sam McGuire

Football

Sun December 10, 2023 · 11M ago

It is a divisive question and has been for quite some time.

Published prior to Liverpool's 2-1 win over Crystal Palace

The Liverpool vice-captain broke into the team as a right-back and he completely transformed how that role is viewed.

The Reds made him a key part of their attack and he was the team’s creative hub.

Revolutionising the position

Jurgen Klopp tweaked the role of his midfielders to accommodate the Liverpool-born maestro. For a period of time, Jordan Henderson was tasked with covering the space whenever the No66 was in possession. It gave him the freedom to influence things in the final third.

Full-backs weren’t ever in the team purely to make up the numbers but never before had they been so vital to a way that a team set-up. Liverpool looked to facilitate his excellence while opponents genuinely had to come up with plans to limit him.

Over the past four seasons, Alexander-Arnold has chipped in with 46 assists from right-back. He finished with nine last season, the first time he’s failed to hit double figures in assists since his breakthrough campaign during the 2017/18 season.

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Some felt he was wasted as a defender and would’ve been better suited to a midfield role. Others felt he simply wasn’t good enough defensively and should be alleviated of the burden by shifting him to the middle third permanently.

Whatever the reason for it, the general consensus seemed to be that Alexander-Arnold should be restored to the role he played during his days in the academy. Klopp, however, resisted the temptation and kept the Scouser in the team as a full-back.

Successful switch last season

That was until the final third of last season.

With Liverpool needing something remarkable to finish in the top four, the German tactician deployed a 3-2-2-3 shape in possession with Alexander-Arnold inverting to form a double pivot.

To say it was successful would be a bit of an understatement.

Liverpool finished the season unbeaten in 10 and Alexander-Arnold assisted seven times.

The new shape continued into the 2023/24 campaign but his individual performances haven’t been quite as impressive. He has just one assist to his name.

Once again, people are questioning whether he should be moved into midfield or return to the more traditional right-back role.

Has Trent's role changed?

He’s scored in his last two Premier League games, equalising against Manchester City and netting the winner against Fulham having been moved into midfield mid-way through the second half.

Here’s the thing though, his role is being misunderstood. While the inverted role may look similar on paper this term, the players in the team mean Alexander-Arnold is being used differently. For once, he’s a facilitator rather than the player benefitting from others facilitating him and his strengths.

You get a better understanding of this when looking at his numbers.

Firstly, he’s created chances with an expected assists (xA) total of 2.15 so the single assist he’s registered this season doesn’t tell the whole story. But his Expected Assists per 90 average is down at 0.25 when it was at 0.36 across the 2021/22 and 2022/23 campaigns in the Premier League.

The chances he is creating on a per 90 basis aren’t as high value as they used to be.

Furthermore, he is averaging fewer passes this season. This season, his total is coming in at around 79 per 90 whereas in previous campaigns he’s been averaging 88. However, his pass success rate is a little higher (77%). In a nutshell, he’s seeing less of the ball but is better at retaining it. This tells you he is playing safer, simpler passes which might explain why his xA average is down.

TAA now a 'deeplying playmaker'

Interestingly, he’s playing fewer passes into the penalty area and a similar number into the final third. However, his percentage of passes into these zones is higher.

His role is different. Instead of being heavily involved in final phase situations, he’s the player getting the ball into those areas. He’s the one supplying the likes of Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah with possession.

It is no coincidence that those two players rank above Alexander-Arnold this season for chances created. This is a metric dominated by the right-back since 2018/19. He’s topped the charts in every single season, apart from this one.

Alexander-Arnold is a deeper-lying playmaker and that is why his numbers have taken a bit of a hit.

They aren’t going to be identical to previous campaigns because his role demands that he does different things now. It is no doubt why he’s averaging one more progressive carry per 90 this season and more shots (1.79) than ever before for Liverpool.

Klopp just tweaked the 25-year-old’s position in the build-up but people judging him haven’t tweaked their expectations. Alexander-Arnold is still as effective as ever for the Reds and he’s still just as important to the way they build and sustain attacks.

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