Jurgen Klopp was not impressed the last time Trent Alexander-Arnold played in midfield for England.
Ever since the 24-year-old burst onto the scene with Liverpool in 2016, he has played at right-back and won everything there is to win with the Reds. But as much as he has been lauded for his creative abilities, scrutiny over his defending remains. As such, there has always been a debate regarding whether Alexander-Arnold should be played in midfield.
After witnessing Gareth Southgate play the defender in the engine room for an underwhelming first-half display against Andorra in September 2021, Klopp wasted no time in making his discontent at such a decision heard.
"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.
READ MORE: Join the Liverpool ECHO's LFC transfer news and top stories WhatsApp community
"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."
He continued: "(It's) 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. Some people think that because he plays 10 yards further up the pitch he would be more influential.
"Being more influential than Trent Alexander-Arnold in the last, I don’t know, how many years he has played for me is really tricky. It would mean I would have to have a proper look to find somebody.
"He plays the right position, we adapt and try and use his skills absolutely, but in the end the right-back is the one who defends the right side and he is doing that really well. All the rest when we have the ball, we use him as good as we can."
Since that brief experiment two years ago, Alexander-Arnold has barely featured for his country. Before this month’s international break, he had won just four further caps, with Southgate dropping him from squads on occasions, and publicly admitting that he rated Kyle Walker, Kieron Trippier and Reece James more than the Liverpool man when it came to delivering his demands for the full-back position.
Of course, such a stance has always been controversial. Wherever he plays, Alexander-Arnold is and always will be one of his club and country’s most gifted, naturally talented players. As a result, the decision not to select him has always been baffling, especially when he was helping lead the Reds’ unprecedented quadruple challenge in 2021/22.
Yet last season, with Liverpool horribly out of form in an underwhelming season of transition and Alexander-Arnold not at his best as a result, for the first time in the full-back’s career, it was understandable if he found himself overlooked.
Klopp’s response was to eventually reinvent the 24-year-old as an inverted right-back during the final 10 games of the Premier League season. Pushing forward into central midfield when the Reds were all the ball, he’d record a goal and seven assists as Liverpool finished the game with an 11-game unbeaten run.
Meanwhile, during each match of this run, we all grew accustomed to seeing the little graphics popping on Reds matches, sharing how Alexander-Arnold had registered more assists, chances created, passes in the opposing half and completed passes in the final third, penalty area entries, touches, and possession wins than any other player in the Premier League across the final 10 games of the season.
Unsurprisingly calls for him to now make a permanent switch into midfield were forthcoming, with Klopp admitting his position in 2023/24 will depend on the Reds’ summer transfer business.
“If it is long term we will see, it just depends on the new players that we bring in,” Klopp would tell Sky Sports of the change after his side’s win over Brentford. “It suits him (Alexander-Arnold) extremely well.”
Yet it would seem such an admission was only in relation to whether the right-back will return to a more traditional role or continue as an inverted full-back next season. After all, following transfer links with Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard, Anfield sources would insist the club is not looking to sign a new right-back this summer, with Alexander-Arnold subsequently not freed up to play purely in midfield as a result.
But that wouldn’t stop Southgate from again experimenting with the Liverpool man in midfield for England’s 4-0 win over Malta on Friday night. Putting in a man-of-the-match performance, with the highlight being a spectacular 25-yard goal, it was evident that this time such a decision was vindicated.
Whether Klopp is less dismissive of such usage of his player, only time will tell. But either way, former Everton wideman Andros Townsend, who was on commentary duty for Channel Four for the Three Lions’ 4-0 win over Malta, was adamant the German owes Southgate an apology.
“I am still waiting for Jurgen Klopp to apologise to Gareth Southgate,” he said before kick-off. “Because Gareth tried it a few years ago [playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield] and he was criticised by Jurgen Klopp saying, ‘why would you play the best right-back in the world in midfield?’
“And a couple of years later here he is, playing week in, week out in that midfield position. But it is interesting to see how he does take to starting in midfield because it is one thing starting in your natural position and wandering, picking and choosing your moments, but it’s another to start in midfield and checking your shoulders and having to be side-on as a holding midfield player.”
The notion of Southgate being right where Klopp was supposedly wrong is laughable. The German has led Liverpool to every major prize on offer, getting the very best out of Alexander-Arnold along the way. In contrast, the former Middlesbrough boss regularly overlooked the right-back, completely oblivious as to what to do with him, as England lost in World Cup and Nations League semi-finals, a European Championships final, suffered Nations League relegation, and then lost a World Cup quarter-final.
In truth, both Klopp and Alexander-Arnold have made Southgate’s life easier for him with the Reds’ own invention a more complex, hybrid role.
Asked about making a full-time switch into midfield after his performance against Malta, the 24-year-old said: “I don’t know, potentially. It is still early doors and I haven’t played this position too often, but it feels comfortable and natural - it is somewhere I enjoy playing and somewhere I can see myself playing.
"For me, it is about getting into this team and being a regular name on the team sheet and I think today was a good foundation to build on.
"I think regarding England, the manager’s always try and find a way to fit me into the team, but with the quality of the players in that position that I play in, it is difficult to find that. But in the role I’m playing at club football, it’s definitely opened a new avenue for me and hopefully it’s an option he wants to use a lot.
“It’s still early doors, it’s only one game but it is just about making sure that when I get the opportunities I take it.”
Southgate had hinted in the build-up to facing Malta on more than one occasion that he would turn to Alexander-Arnold in midfield, and was suitably impressed by his performance.
"Inevitably a lot of what happens is going to be dependent on his club," he said. "The fact he's been playing partly in there with the ball, albeit a bit deeper, has helped his transition.
"I've got no questions in my head he can do it, it's just learning some nuances of the role. He's very keen to do it, he's enjoyed the project, we talked about it about four weeks ago on the phone and he's been excited by it. He's shown exactly what we think he can be capable of."
Yet it can also not be overlooked that part of the reason Southgate even turned to the Liverpool man in midfield from the start against Malta was because Jude Bellingham had withdrawn from the squad through injury, Mason Mount wasn’t called up because of injury, and because not only did Kalvin Phillips barely play last season, he along with Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and his other Manchester City team-mates, joined up late for international duty as a result of their treble celebrations. As a result, it remains to be seen whether he remains an international starter when everyone is available once more.
Despite the black and white nature of his England midfield role, Alexander-Arnold remains a right-back for Liverpool, albeit one who gets to enjoy the best of both worlds.
“Good question!” he said when asked by The Athletic last month if he considers himself to be a right-back or midfielder. “I’m both. With the ball, I see myself as a midfielder. Without the ball, I see myself as a right-back.”
His openness to both roles is just as well, given Liverpool’s transfer stance. Having already signed a new midfielder in Alexis Mac Allister, at least one more will be sought. But, barring a U-turn at Anfield, there will be no new right-back with Joe Gomez and Conor Bradley poised to act as cover.
Given the ongoing debate regarding Alexander-Arnold’s positioning is only going to get louder, it feels fitting to remind ourselves of one famous Jamie Carragher putdown to Gary Neville back in 2013.
"There's only two things for a full-back. You're either a failed winger or a failed centre-back,” the Liverpool legend famously declared in front of his old Manchester United rival on Sky Sports. “No-one wants to be a full-back as a kid. No-one wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville."
Alexander-Arnold would reference such a claim himself in January 2020 as Liverpool marched towards winning the Premier League title.
Speaking after a 2-0 victory over Sheffield United, he said: "As a pair (himself and left-back Andy Robertson), we want to change the positions of how they're thought about.
“Obviously, there was the famous saying of 'nobody wants to grow up to be a full-back or a Gary Neville' but we want to change that. We have different thinking of being a full-back and that's what we've been doing over the last 18 months."
Three years on and Alexander-Arnold has already succeeded. He is neither a failed winger, nor a failed centre-back, having already redefined the role. And now, as an inverted full-back, he’s re-writing the rule-book even more.
No-one wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville. But a whole generation of fans want to be a Trent Alexander-Arnold, with his new hybrid role arguably making such a position even more glamorous.
Klopp hasn’t limited his player by making him a right-back. Instead, he’s given him the freedom to just play his natural game. And such a liberty is one he has repeatedly been denied on England duty.
Southgate might avoid Klopp’s wrath this time following his latest midfield experiment, but that doesn’t mean the Liverpool manager will follow his example. Sure, such performances could give him something to think about, but it won’t outweigh what he sees back at the AXA Training Centre and in Reds matches.
Klopp now has a whole summer to stew over his set-up for the new season, debating where new signings fit in, if the inverted full-back system really is here to stay, and how to get the very best out of Alexander-Arnold and co. While onlookers might demand that that means a permanent switch to midfield, the German won’t be pressured into changing transfer stance or altering his Liverpool plan by anyone anytime soon.
Reds legend Jamie Carragher would post on social media during England's win over Malta that: "This midfield role for TAA will eventually become the norm for club & country!" But if a full switch into midfield does eventually follow, it won't be in response to Southgate's 'genius'.
Agree with their reasoning or not, the Reds are currently content enjoying the best of both worlds. Their own decision may come under fire, but with Alexander-Arnold thriving for the entirety of his Liverpool career, winning every prize along the way, you’d be either blind or a fool to ever suggest that Klopp is the one who has been holding him back or using him wrong.
READ NEXT
