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Trent Alexander-Arnold: Liverpool midfield switch a risk Reds don't need to take
Though Trent Alexander-Arnold was listed as a right-back for Liverpool’s match against Arsenal, he spent most of his time as a central midfielder.
Jurgen Klopp has trialled variations of this since the start of last season with the No66 usually drifting inside once the ball is in the opposition’s half.
Against the Premier League leaders, however, the 24-year-old was essentially part of a midfield pivot whenever the Reds were in possession.
With 30 minutes on the clock, it appeared to be a mistake.
The hosts were 2-0 down and it looked a formality that Arsenal would pick up their first Anfield win since 2012. The system wasn’t necessarily the issue but, at the same time, it didn’t appear to be a solution.
A comedy of errors gifted the visitors the opener. Andrew Robertson slipped at the wrong time, Ibrahima Konate stepped up to engage with Martin Odegaard and ended up in no man’s land as Virgil Van Dijk’s attempted clearance fell kindly for Gabriel Martinelli.
From a Liverpool perspective, the second Arsenal goal was just as error-riddled though Mikel Arteta would’ve viewed it as something right off the training ground.
Granit Xhaka found space in midfield and played a pass down the line for Martinelli. Alexander-Arnold was caught square on and Konate allowed the Brazilian forward to cut inside and deliver a cross. Van Dijk was caught under the ball and Gabriel Jesus nodded past his compatriot, Alisson.
Some managers in this situation would’ve panicked and looked to change things but Klopp stuck with Alexander-Arnold playing as an inverted full-back.
Looking back now, you would have to say it was a successful experiment.
The Liverpool right-back didn’t have a hand in the opener but the tactical tweak did play a part in getting Curtis Jones in possession on the left flank.
With Alexander-Arnold forming a double pivot with Fabinho, the Brazilian midfielder was able to cover the space on the left and this freed up the left-sided midfielder to replicate what the right-sided midfielder usually does for the Reds.
Fabinho can shuffle over due to Alexander-Arnold covering.
The fact Liverpool have Robertson, Fabinho, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo and Jones on the left gives them an overload in possession and the latter can commit to hitting the space as the Reds work the ball through the middle third into the attacking third.
Alexander-Arnold was directly involved in the equaliser.
Though the lasting memory of that was the No66 attacking the byline before nutmegging Oleksandr Zinchenko and clipping in a cross for Roberto Firmino to head in, he did start that move centrally before making an underlapping run.
The space is only there because of how narrow Alexander-Arnold is in the build-up.
Occupying the space is completely different to attacking it. The right-back often does the former but against the Gunners, he was able to do the latter.
The 24-year-old was pivotal in a final couple of chances for the Reds in stoppage time.
He played a reverse left-footed pass into Salah who then watched on as Ramsdale palmed his deflected effort away.
It was Alexander-Arnold who clipped in the cross that Darwin Nunez headed across goal into the path of Ibrahima Konate who couldn’t divert the ball beyond the Arsenal shot-stopper from point-blank range.
The Liverpool right-back created four chances on the day and was involved in a lot of everything good for Klopp’s side.
On another day, the Reds, who created eight chances and finished with an Expected Goals (xG) haul of 4.43, romp to yet another big victory at Anfield.
This one would’ve been more deserved than the 9-0 win over Bournemouth and the 7-0 triumph against Manchester United.
Liverpool's 4.43 xG created in their 2-2 draw with Arsenal was their highest xG tally in the Premier League this season.
— Sporting Life Football & Infogol (@InfogolApp) April 9, 2023
They've beaten Bournemouth 9-0 (4.08 xG) and Manchester United 7-0 (3.79 xG).#LFC pic.twitter.com/SiwkioU9XY
What was interesting is that Alexander-Arnold attempted fewer passes in that game - 51 down from the 66 he’s averaged this term - but his pass success rate was up at 82%.
He was attempting fewer risky passes but he was still just as expressive, playing 13 passes into the final third against the Gunners - again, a figure up on his season average of 11.
In a nutshell, he attempted 15 fewer passes than his average this term but two more into the final third.
After the match, Klopp talked about the tweak to Alexander-Arnold’s position.
"We did that before, but it was not that obvious. But we did that before, we put Trent inside. Today, in buildup Trent played more inside, double six, that’s how it is.
"You need to get used to it, obviously. I would say it’s a big step to do it in a game against Arsenal. It opened up different opportunities for us, if you watch it back after we learned to use it."
There is now a clamour for this to be a full-time move for the 18-cap international, especially with the Reds looking to overhaul their midfield in the summer.
However, an inverted full-back role may be a better fit Alexander-Arnold, at least in the short term.
Starting in a double pivot isn’t the same as forming a midfield pivot in possession. A lot of the time, he was able to drift inside and face his own goal to receive a simple pass before laying it back off to Alisson.
He wasn’t under severe pressure as Arsenal’s pressing set-up didn’t account for him to be popping up deep in central areas.
If he starts there, teams have a plan for it. Instead of picking the ball up in space with the entire pitch ahead of him, Alexander-Arnold would have to create his own space and this could well limit how effective he is in possession.
He would also be tasked with more defensive responsibility in midfield. Instead of having to defend a winger, he would have to track runners and cover for others.
There is much more responsibility in midfield and tasking him with that means he can’t be doing everything else that he is better at.
Using him as an inverted full-back is a nice trick card to use in certain games but converting him into a midfielder would be a risk that Liverpool don’t need to take.