Strap yourselves in, the ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold should be a midfielder’ bandwagon is gathering speed and won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Ever since the right-back first broke into the Liverpool team back in 2016/17, there has been an on/off debate regarding his long-term position. As good as the 24-year-old is on the ball, being one of English football’s most naturally gifted players, there has always been excessive scrutiny regarding his defensive credentials.
As a result, onlookers have regularly insisted that the Reds continue to play Alexander-Arnold in the wrong position by sticking with him at right-back as opposed to fielding him in midfield. When England manager Gareth Southgate first flirted with the notion of playing the defender further forward, fielding him in midfield for 45 minutes against Andorra in a 4-0 win back in September 2021, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wasted no time in sharing his disdain for such a decision.
"If you watch our games then you will see that Trent’s position has already changed," the German said at the time. "Not in all the games but in games where it is possible then his position changed already.
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"So there is no need to now make him now a midfield player. It is a little bit a shame that we talk in 2021 like this about football. Players play everywhere, especially good players are pretty much everywhere.
"Trent is not very often on the left wing, that is true, but on the right wing he was already everywhere on the pitch.
"In this game, in a game where England are that dominant for example, or that we are that dominant that Trent could play in midfield, I would rather he was the six than in this case the eight.
"That is possible but why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don’t understand that really."
Yet two years on and Alexander-Arnold was back in midfield for his country in recent Euro 2024 qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. He thrived in both games, scoring a stunning 25-yarder against the former, registering an even more impressive first-time assist for Bukaya Saka against the latter, and playing a direct role in helping create two further goals with a pre-assist in each game.
Man-of-the-match against Malta, a Saka hat-trick admittedly stole the headlines against North Macedonia. But with Alexander-Arnold completing 55 of his attempted 56 passes and his 98% passing accuracy the highest return on the Old Trafford pitch, his influence in England’s latest qualifier was obvious.
“Tonight he had to make a lot of decisions and he did it almost immaculately,” Southgate told BBC Radio 5 Live after the final whistle. “He regained a lot of balls. His pressing was good, so for me, he has got everything to play in there.
“I didn’t even think twice about starting him in there. It might give us something completely different. The vision and the passing range and the connection with Bukayo for his second goal."
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher would tweet during England’s victory over Malta: “This midfield role for TAA will eventually become the norm for club & country! He creates plenty from full-back as he will in CM, but the goal he has just scored will happen a lot more in midfield. He could get double figures in goals & assists playing further forward.”
Off the back of such displays, it is inevitable that there will be increased ‘pressure’ for Klopp to transform Alexander-Arnold into a full-time midfielder himself heading into the new season.
Yet it would be a surprise if such a transition happened anytime soon at Anfield, with Liverpool not looking to sign a new right-back this summer. With Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley the Reds’ back-up options, such a stance reinforces Alexander-Arnold’s starting role remains at right-back.
However, Klopp at least found a happy compromise during the final weeks of last season after utilising the Academy graduate as an inverted full-back. While in his natural right-back role when Liverpool are defending, the England international pushes forward into central-midfield when the Reds are on the ball, with Southgate acknowledging that such a role change has opened the door for Alexander-Arnold’s midfield position for his country.
With both club and player enduring a difficult season prior to Klopp’s tweak, Alexander-Arnold’s change of role revitalised both as Liverpool fell just short of an unlikely top four finish. Putting together an 11-game unbeaten run, he would return a goal and seven assists from his final 10 appearances of the season.
While you could argue, like Carragher has, that such totals would increase significantly if switched to a full-blown midfielder, the Reds have their reasons for not currently pursuing such a change.
For starters, Liverpool are a more offensive side than England. Their tweaked system still sees them essentially attacking with seven players, while the Three Lions, who line up with a five-man defence on occasions, tend to leave at least an extra man back with six players pushing forward.
In such a set-up, Alexander-Arnold is still an attacking player for the Reds, encouraged to get forward into midfield and make things happen in the final third. And even in Klopp’s original 4-3-3 formation, he was still encouraged to attack at will down the right.
And regardless of set-up, Liverpool’s right-sided central-midfielder (more often than not Jordan Henderson) remains predominantly a supporting role. The player is tasked with creating space for, providing support to, and covering defensively for both Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah, with the Reds already set up to get the most out of the pair as a result. A switch to midfield now would result in a completely different set-up, stepping away from what has served Klopp so well over the past six years.
But with England, Alexander-Arnold wouldn’t be afforded such freedom at right-back or the same protection at right wing-back. Instead, both are forthcoming in midfield, with that extra defensive body still utilised behind him.
Meanwhile, Liverpool are able to call upon the pace of Ibrahima Konate to cover for him as the right-sided centre-back in a hybrid defensive position of his own. In contrast, England’s first-choice pairing of John Stones and Harry Maguire aren’t blessed to the same extent, while Kyle Walker is only played in the centre as part of a five-man defence.
And with Southgate’s defenders’ priority still to defend, a switch to midfield has been required to make more of Alexander-Arnold’s attacking abilities without taking added risks defensively. In truth, such a stance is understandable considering England’s most meaningful games come in knock-out competition with no second chances.
Beyond exact position, fluid positioning will be in Reds mind too when it comes to Alexander-Arnold’s hybrid position. While his inverted role gets him on the ball in central positions in midfield and in the final third, he is still free to attack down the flanks too.
In truth, his crossing arguably remains his greatest weapon, and he is free to showcase such a trait regularly for his club. From Alexander-Arnold's seven assists during the final 10 games of the season, five would come from wide areas.
Yet in his central England position, such opportunities are lacking. Against Malta and North Macedonia, he registered just one cross from open play in each game, while none of his combined four key passes came from beyond the width of the penalty area.
In contrast, Alexander-Arnold is credited with attempting 33 crosses from open play for Liverpool since switching to his hybrid role. This would include an eye-catching seven against both Aston Villa and Southampton, five against Arsenal, and four against Nottingham Forest.
Such crossing totals don’t even include low crosses, such as his assists when setting up Cody Gakpo against both Leeds United and Southampton. Meanwhile, he also registered 23 key passes for the Reds across the same period, including four against Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Southampton.
Include free-kicks and he at least attempted to create 42 chances from purely wide areas across those final 10 games. As influential as he was for England, such openings were lacking during the June international break.
"Why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder?" Klopp asked two years ago. Perhaps now the question should be, "Why would you not get the best crosser in the world out wide?"
Alexander-Arnold is very much still a threat from wide areas, even in his new hybrid role, with his crossing an asset Klopp won’t want to limit anytime soon. As impressive as Alexander-Arnold was for the Three Lions against lesser opposition, he remains even more creative for Liverpool.
And while calls for the Reds to field the right-back purely in midfield will continue, Liverpool have set up their side to enjoy the best of both worlds and play to Alexander-Arnold’s strengths.
