Trent Alexander-Arnold

[Buzzo]

Is his role really working? It feels like he is constantly trying to play straight wonder balls in behind the defence, but so often there is no space there and they are just over hit, or easily cleared, the forward players aren't helping at the moment admittedly but I'm not convinced a role like he's been trying to play last few weeks is ever really going to work.

It also leaves who ever is right wing utterly isolated.

[danperkins]

Said it many times as have others, I ****ing hate his role in the team. If you want to move him into midfield just ****ing do it and if you want to leave him at right full, just ****ing do it. Sick of this Hollywood ball ****e.

[Exiled_red]

It also leaves who ever is right wing utterly isolated.

The right hand side of defence is exposed and players on the right of midfield and forward line are isolated.

But even if we were to forget it as a hybrid role and just play him as a central deep lying play maker I don't think it works.

[Exiled_red]

Said it many times as have others, I ****ing hate his role in the team. If you want to move him into midfield just ****ing do it and if you want to leave him at right full, just ****ing do it. Sick of this Hollywood ball ****e.

I feel the Hollywood ball is why we have tried to bring him into this role or looking at him playing in midfield. To be fair he is capable of executing it. But just thinking of it from a playing the percentages point of view maybe it comes off a couple of times a match, is it worth having a system that means all a player offers is a couple of chances a match, he was creating more than that from RB

[Doc_Piptorious]

But but but play him in midfield, he will be better than KdB, he is wasted at RB etc etc


Hopefully a new manager will tell him that he can play as a Rb or he can put in a transfer request or sit out his contract if he does want to play for the team.


For all the stick the likes of Nunez. Salah etc get, TAA tends to fly under the radar despite being a local lad that rarely busts a good and has as many bad games as he does good ones this season and last season.


Has the talent to be the best attacking RB in the game, something he proved for a sustained period of time, but the past two seasons seems to prefer being the guy that others have to do the running for.


Local lad playing against Everton and looked like he did not give a toss. But those pesky foreigners.....

[danperkins]

But but but play him in midfield, he will be better than KdB, he is wasted at RB etc etc


Hopefully a new manager will tell him that he can play as a Rb or he can put in a transfer request or sit out his contract if he does want to play for the team.


For all the stick the likes of Nunez. Salah etc get, TAA tends to fly under the radar despite being a local lad that rarely busts a good and has as many bad games as he does good ones this season and last season.


Has the talent to be the best attacking RB in the game, something he proved for a sustained period of time, but the past two seasons seems to prefer being the guy that others have to do the running for.


Local lad playing against Everton and looked like he did not give a toss. But those pesky foreigners.....

I think the Trent problem is that he was one of the best right fulls in the world, ridiculous output that made up for his defensive frailties & he is one of the best strikers of a ball in the game. Unfortunately he has lost a yard, doens't have the legs anymore to exist in a Klopp system & was getting exposed horribly at right full, so we created the hybrid role for him which plays to his best attributes but also puts a huge strain on the team in other ways & teams have been dropping balls over his head into the gaping hole all season long.

I've never been a fan of the hybrid role at LFC, if you are going to play him in midfield, do it then & if you are going to keep him at RB, do it then. Stick or twist ffs. Personally I think he has deteriorated so much now that we need better in both roles but it seems Klopp has been desperate to try fit him in somewhere. I get it he has crazy ability on the ball but also, he doesn't look arsed in alot of games, his positional awareness is terrible & when Bradley came in, we got a chance to see just how effective that type of bombarding right full really is in a LFC side.

[danperkins]

I feel the Hollywood ball is why we have tried to bring him into this role or looking at him playing in midfield. To be fair he is capable of executing it. But just thinking of it from a playing the percentages point of view maybe it comes off a couple of times a match, is it worth having a system that means all a player offers is a couple of chances a match, he was creating more than that from RB

that hybrid role seems to have turned from a short term fix, into a long term solution that imo there are more trades off than there are positives.

[Buzzo]

Thiago was a great example of a player who just plays the right ball, not the Hollywood ball. Trent is nowhere near that astute in reading the game. He was good on Saturday, but last night he was getting the ball, waiting, looking up, waiting, looking up and everyone watching and playing new what was coming next. Thats easy to defend against. Thiago plays with pace and variety, that is not easy to defend against. Just a shame his bone density is similar to a bread stick.

Trent has a long way to go. I do wonder if he realises this as he sometimes plays with a swagger that performances dont back up.

[danperkins]

Thiago was a great example of a player who just plays the right ball, not the Hollywood ball. Trent is nowhere near that astute in reading the game. He was good on Saturday, but last night he was getting the ball, waiting, looking up, waiting, looking up and everyone watching and playing new what was coming next. Thats easy to defend against. Thiago plays with pace and variety, that is not easy to defend against. Just a shame his bone density is similar to a bread stick.

Trent has a long way to go. I do wonder if he realises this as he sometimes plays with a swagger that performances dont back up.

[Exiled_red]

Assuming he isn't going to play RB, where would you play him?

I don't think he has the defensive ability to play as a proper DM. He could play the 'Xabi Alonso' deep lying play maker role, or he could play as an 8. The other option I have seen mentioned is as a right sided forward but I don't really think he has the skillset for that.

[Cerbie]

Assuming he isn't going to play RB, where would you play him?

I don't think he has the defensive ability to play as a proper DM. He could play the 'Xabi Alonso' deep lying play maker role, or he could play as an 8. The other option I have seen mentioned is as a right sided forward but I don't really think he has the skillset for that.

Slot seems to prefer a 4-2-3-1 formation at Feyenoord, so there could be space for him in the midfield if Slot is the new man and he sticks to his preferred formation.

[Doc_Piptorious]

I think the Trent problem is that he was one of the best right fulls in the world, ridiculous output that made up for his defensive frailties & he is one of the best strikers of a ball in the game. Unfortunately he has lost a yard, doens't have the legs anymore to exist in a Klopp system & was getting exposed horribly at right full, so we created the hybrid role for him which plays to his best attributes but also puts a huge strain on the team in other ways & teams have been dropping balls over his head into the gaping hole all season long.

I've never been a fan of the hybrid role at LFC, if you are going to play him in midfield, do it then & if you are going to keep him at RB, do it then. Stick or twist ffs. Personally I think he has deteriorated so much now that we need better in both roles but it seems Klopp has been desperate to try fit him in somewhere. I get it he has crazy ability on the ball but also, he doesn't look arsed in alot of games, his positional awareness is terrible & when Bradley came in, we got a chance to see just how effective that type of bombarding right full really is in a LFC side.

What exactly in his all round game makes you think he would be better as an out and out midfielder though?

That lack of positional awareness would be highlighed even further, the lack of tracking back and basic movement would be highlighted even further.

We would end up having to play three at the back and going with four in the centre just to have people there to cover for him again.

In any position other than RB he is a luxury player that requires others to cover for him and to do some of his running for him.

Yeah he plays nice passes but a big chunk of them are hollywood passes that go to the other team these days. His pass completion rate as a midfielder/hybrid midfielder is pretty **** and that is down to him constantly trying speculative balls that look amazing when one comes off but that just give the other team the ball when they fail.

Linking play with quick simple balls seems to be something he only does in spurts now.


All the talk keeps going back to how he would be a KdB level player in midfield. He got moved to a more central role and his assist getting just fell off a cliff and his pass completion rates just look like those of an average player and not a KdB level player.


He attempts a huge number of passes ever single game. One of the highest on the league for it. But game after game 25% or more of his passes go to a player on the other team.


He was also lauded as being a new Thiago in terms of passing. Thiago when he was fit would match TAA for thouse stupidly high volumes of passes attempted and then destroy TAA for actual pass accuaracy and the ability to know when to play a simple ball and when to go long.


You look at other guys who play as attacking RBs that can also go into hybrid roles, Like Hakimi, and they churn out a similar number of passes per game over the course of the season but misplaces only half as many passes as TAA does and they also get back more and put in more hard yards per game.


Our guy has the talent to match anyone in the game but is putting up very average pass numbers which are being reflected by his very very average goal and assist returns, things we were told would get even better if he was allowed a more free advanced role.


Think he is an amazing attacking right back and a bang average midfielder when all aspects of being a midfielder are taken into account.


Give me a guy that has ok talent but that works hard for the team and that suits the balance of the team over the guy with all the talent in the world but that has to be shoehorned into a position he does not excel in.


Being honest if we got a huge offer for him in the summer I would accept it and then put the ball in his court as to whether he wanted out or not.

He wants to stay then he signs a new contract, he wants to stay and not sign a new contract then he spends his final twelve months as a squaddie and we move forward with Bradley or whomever we see as the future of theRB slot.


Same thing applies to any player in their final tweleve months or who we think is underperforming or that has gone on holidays early this season.


The players can throw as many excuses as they want out at the end of the season. Oh Klopp was leaving, oh I was tired or whatever.

They were all in a title race against teams whose players are also doing savage minutes this season. If you are tired tell your manager and he can try one of the young players chmping at the bit.

If you are so concerned about Klopp going, then bust your gut to try and give the man one hell of a send off.


If you are worried about a new manager coming in, then be showing that new guy how good you are before he arrives.

[Exiled_red]

Slot seems to prefer a 4-2-3-1 formation at Feyenoord, so there could be space for him in the midfield if Slot is the new man and he sticks to his preferred formation.

If it is Slot and he sticks to that formation it depends on how many of the 3 he sees as forwards and how many he sees as midfielders, if he decides the 2 wide players in the 3 are forwards (e.g. Diaz and Salah in our current squad) you are still only picking 3 midfielders so there are no more midfield spots available than currently. If he decides that 2 of those are midfielders then yes there are more midfield spots available.

[Exiled_red]

What exactly in his all round game makes you think he would be better as an out and out midfielder though?

That lack of positional awareness would be highlighed even further, the lack of tracking back and basic movement would be highlighted even further.

We would end up having to play three at the back and going with four in the centre just to have people there to cover for him again.

In any position other than RB he is a luxury player that requires others to cover for him and to do some of his running for him.

Yeah he plays nice passes but a big chunk of them are hollywood passes that go to the other team these days. His pass completion rate as a midfielder/hybrid midfielder is pretty **** and that is down to him constantly trying speculative balls that look amazing when one comes off but that just give the other team the ball when they fail.

Linking play with quick simple balls seems to be something he only does in spurts now.


All the talk keeps going back to how he would be a KdB level player in midfield. He got moved to a more central role and his assist getting just fell off a cliff and his pass completion rates just look like those of an average player and not a KdB level player.


He attempts a huge number of passes ever single game. One of the highest on the league for it. But game after game 25% or more of his passes go to a player on the other team.


He was also lauded as being a new Thiago in terms of passing. Thiago when he was fit would match TAA for thouse stupidly high volumes of passes attempted and then destroy TAA for actual pass accuaracy and the ability to know when to play a simple ball and when to go long.


You look at other guys who play as attacking RBs that can also go into hybrid roles, Like Hakimi, and they churn out a similar number of passes per game over the course of the season but misplaces only half as many passes as TAA does and they also get back more and put in more hard yards per game.


Our guy has the talent to match anyone in the game but is putting up very average pass numbers which are being reflected by his very very average goal and assist returns, things we were told would get even better if he was allowed a more free advanced role.


Think he is an amazing attacking right back and a bang average midfielder when all aspects of being a midfielder are taken into account.


Give me a guy that has ok talent but that works hard for the team and that suits the balance of the team over the guy with all the talent in the world but that has to be shoehorned into a position he does not excel in.


Being honest if we got a huge offer for him in the summer I would accept it and then put the ball in his court as to whether he wanted out or not.

He wants to stay then he signs a new contract, he wants to stay and not sign a new contract then he spends his final twelve months as a squaddie and we move forward with Bradley or whomever we see as the future of theRB slot.


Same thing applies to any player in their final tweleve months or who we think is underperforming or that has gone on holidays early this season.


The players can throw as many excuses as they want out at the end of the season. Oh Klopp was leaving, oh I was tired or whatever.

They were all in a title race against teams whose players are also doing savage minutes this season. If you are tired tell your manager and he can try one of the young players chmping at the bit.

If you are so concerned about Klopp going, then bust your gut to try and give the man one hell of a send off.


If you are worried about a new manager coming in, then be showing that new guy how good you are before he arrives.

I don't think I can disagree with much of that.

For all the criticism of his defending when playing RB he got up and down the pitch alot now it feels like he does hardly any running and just wants to spray passes about and attempt to control the game from the centre circle, this largely results in straight Hollywood type passes which rarely come off, but look great when they do and just give possession away most of the time. I don't feel like the rest of the stuff he does (set pieces aside) are anything that your average PL midfielder doesn't do.

People keep saying about him as a generational talent but at the moment I'm struggling to see it in this role which is supposed to be made for him.

At least playing RB he was providing quality crosses and could switch the play, at the moment we have lost both of those for not much gain IMO

[DerKrampus]

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