Trent Alexander-Arnold

[Buzzo]

He is playing well. Need to figure out what is happening with his position. I think he sees himself as a midfielder now.

[Irishnev]

He is playing well. Need to figure out what is happening with his position. I think he sees himself as a midfielder now.

Just buy a right back and play him in midfield

[SB]

Just buy a right back and play him in midfield

Simple isn’t it

[Buzzo]

Just buy a right back and play him in midfield

[danperkins]

Just buy a right back and play him in midfield

[danperkins]

It just seems so obvious for us to invest in a quality fullback and have the option and that versatility to move Trent into a midfield role if we want to.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Just buy a right back and play him in midfield

Who gets dropped in midfield to acommodate TAA there if we buy a RB and play that RB?

That said, TAA has been very important to our results the past two games and if he can do that for a sustained run of games then he will make a better arguement for him to get a positional change.

Right now I still don't see him as being a better 90+ minute midfielder than most of our other options. He over the past two games has had better individual moments in games than most of the other midfielders but over 90 minutes the others are better all round midfielders still and by some distance imo.

[RichC]

Who gets dropped in midfield to acommodate TAA there if we buy a RB and play that RB?

That said, TAA has been very important to our results the past two games and if he can do that for a sustained run of games then he will make a better arguement for him to get a positional change.

Right now I still don't see him as being a better 90+ minute midfielder than most of our other options. He over the past two games has had better individual moments in games than most of the other midfielders but over 90 minutes the others are better all round midfielders still and by some distance imo.

That's the question isn't it, who would you drop out to get him into midfield especially on top of the call that " we need a DM playing".

[Exiled_red]

The issue with buying a right back and playing TAA in midfield is that sticks us in to playing a back 4, isn't the idea of playing Trent in this role to get the 3-4-3 (or 3-box-3 as people are calling it) when we have the ball? If that is the case shouldn't we be looking to buy a LCB to play a 'proper' back 3?

[Doc_Piptorious]

That's the question isn't it, who would you drop out to get him into midfield especially on top of the call that " we need a DM playing".

Yep exactly that.

We buy a proper DM along with moving TAA into midfield as a full time midfielder then you need to pick two of our current guys to drop.

The issue with buying a right back and playing TAA in midfield is that sticks us in to playing a back 4, isn't the idea of playing Trent in this role to get the 3-4-3 (or 3-box-3 as people are calling it) when we have the ball? If that is the case shouldn't we be looking to buy a LCB to play a 'proper' back 3?

Big time. The idea from what I can tell is TAA goes into the middle when we are on the ball but he is meant to go back into the back line when we are under pressure, that latter part being what he is often slow to do or just does not do.

We go with three CBs and then we need to decide if it is a 3-4-3 like you said or is it three at the back with wing backs outside them, in which case a midfielder still needs to be cut to allow TAA to go into midfield.


If TAA was more athletic and had a higher work rate then him in the role Szobo is playing in would make sense.


Did muse recently if an idea we have for the long term is dfor TAA to go into Szobo's RCM role if Salah were to move next summer and then for Szobo to go to the RM rather than RW position then (as he has played both RM and LM for his country). Do think such an idea would leave us with issues in the middle though due to TAA's workrate at times (especially when it comes to the tracking back side of the game and the willingness to be always switched on to that).


Think TAA is a brilliant player, think he is still the best attacking RB in the game today were he to want to play there again, but I suspect he is seeing himself pretty much as a Gerrard type talisman figure in the centre right now just without the physical qualities Gerrard had at 25 or 26 years of age. Gerrard was never the most disciplined either in the middle (hence Rafa putting him at RM for some of Gerrard's most effective runs of form) but he has the physicality and pace (more so than TAA) to at times negate any tactical deficiencies.


Another option were Salah to leave might be TAA at RM but again I wonder would he simply drift in the entire time and vacate the position when we did not have the ball.

[Rich]

We've got Dom where Trent would play. It's a nice problem to have but there's no easy solution for getting TAA into midfield.

[Doc_Piptorious]

We've got Dom where Trent would play. It's a nice problem to have but there's no easy solution for getting TAA into midfield.

Nope, but it is a solution that one way or the other that Klopp needs to come up with.

Right now we seem to have the firepower to (usually) negate that we are more open at the back than in seasons gone by, but all we need is a bad day at the office in the middle against a good team and we get another Toulouse game.

It is the so called smaller teams that worry me more as I think against the likes of City we are more up for it, whereas some of the smaller but well organised teams they are the ones up for it and if we are slightly off our game we get punished and end up in games where we need to come from behind (to be fair we have been good at that this season) rather than being the ones forcing the other team to take risks after they go behind.

[Rich]

OK - I agree.

Can we try Salah through the middle, Nunez on the left, Dom on the right - and Trent in the middle?

[Doc_Piptorious]

OK - I agree.

Can we try Salah through the middle, Nunez on the left, Dom on the right - and Trent in the middle?

You best ring Jurgen and ask him to try that for ya.

[Alex]

That's the question isn't it, who would you drop out to get him into midfield especially on top of the call that " we need a DM playing".

I think you dont drop anyone. You play Trent at RB and if we need to change things we can change his positon during the game and bring on a second RB and have a shift about. It doesnt feel like its his best position still, but its a big change to things.

Happened against Fulham. Brought on Gomez and it changed Trents role slightly.