Trent Alexander-Arnold

[Fivex]

They got a £50m+ player for £8m cos he wouldn't sign a new contract iirc

So as good as free.

[Norbs]

They got a £50m+ player for £8m cos he wouldn't sign a new contract iirc

So as good as free.

Still wasn't free though

[Charly]

Still wasn't free though

Yeah, and we got ball boy Antonio Nunez part exchange who was worth minus £8m...


So there!!!

[Exiled_red]

I felt he was playing more as a RB and less in the hybrid role today and was better for it, most of his best play was from the right

[baitman]

He left the spurs winger all alone and drifted inside, and when ball went to the winger he didn't run out to close him down.
The winger played a great cross across the face of our goal but luckily there was no one to tap it in.

[Doc_Piptorious]

He was very good in the first half when playing as an attacking RB, but for the final 30 mins when he moved to being mostly in the inverted role we saw how much joy Spurs got down the flank that TAA was supposed to be defending when we were off the ball.

That first hour on the right flank he was able to get the time needed to spray his passes about and the team looked all the better for it.

Final 30 minutes had him missing runners, showing he is not great on the half turn.

Guy is a right back and is just a square peg in a round hole when he tries to be a midfielder.

Think two of his biggest issues in midfield is that he does not have the athleticism or recovery pace to counter his lack of positional aewareness in the middle.

And his lack of recovery pace is then further highlighted by that seeming lack of positional awareness in the middle.

Out on the flank suits him as opposing play generally comes at him in straight lines and his postional awareness needs only to take in a 180 degree pov most of the time whereas in the centre a midfielder needs a 360 degree awareness.

[Cerbie]

He was very good in the first half when playing as an attacking RB, but for the final 30 mins when he moved to being mostly in the inverted role we saw how much joy Spurs got down the flank that TAA was supposed to be defending when we were off the ball.

That first hour on the right flank he was able to get the time needed to spray his passes about and the team looked all the better for it.

Final 30 minutes had him missing runners, showing he is not great on the half turn.

Guy is a right back and is just a square peg in a round hole when he tries to be a midfielder.

Think two of his biggest issues in midfield is that he does not have the athleticism or recovery pace to counter his lack of positional aewareness in the middle.

And his lack of recovery pace is then further highlighted by that seeming lack of positional awareness in the middle.

Out on the flank suits him as opposing play generally comes at him in straight lines and his postional awareness needs only to take in a 180 degree pov most of the time whereas in the centre a midfielder needs a 360 degree awareness.

Agreed, but the last 30 mins coincided with Bajcetic replacing Endo. Maybe the tactical thinking was that a double 6 with Stefan would be more solid because it was his first minutes back after a long term injury?

If Trent hadn’t inverted, would Bajcetic have looked exposed through the middle? We will never know. I was happy Trent proved he still has the ability to be a wing back in him, Slot can work with that.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Agreed, but the last 30 mins coincided with Bajcetic replacing Endo. Maybe the tactical thinking was that a double 6 with Stefan would be more solid because it was his first minutes back after a long term injury?

If Trent hadn’t inverted, would Bajcetic have looked exposed through the middle? We will never know. I was happy Trent proved he still has the ability to be a wing back in him, Slot can work with that.

True, but what was clear is that Spurs switched to heavily targeting our right flank once TAA began inverting more and TAA did not react to it at all most of the time.

Spurs went from having 60 minutes of little joy down that flank to it suddenly being a good outlet for them.


Think TAA would need to massively up his work rate to be a right back, wing back or even a winger in a Slot team though.


The big runners in Slot teams seem to be his wingers followed by his full backs. They are the ones doing the most runs forward and backwards and the ones putting in the serious work rates. More than his mifielders do.


The patterns of play in his 433 set ups seem like they get the ball out wide as often as possible and then the wingers and full backs trigger the attacks and also work hard to win the balls back and to get back into position when off the ball.

Looking at the mins played over a course of a season, he also seems to get his wingers/wide players to run themselves into the ground for 60 to 70 minutes and then bring on wide attacking subs and have them do the same for the remaining 20 to 30 mins.


If Slot brings that mindset with him, then our wingers and full backs next season best get used to having to be mobile and very hard working.


Looking at it, a Slot team seems to be one that would suit a younger Robertson or someone like Bradley. The more all action type full backs, along with wingers who like to take a man on all game long.


Does suggest that is he can bring in two or three players in the summer that suit his way of attacking/defending that we might have the sort of exciting attacking wide play that we saw earlier in Klopp's term with us when he has Mane/Robertson pegging down one wing and Salah/TAA on the other.

Younger versions of all four back then of course (though TAA is still a young man and should be able to motor all game long if the mentality is right) but that sort of direct play would be great fun to watch again.

[danperkins]

He's lazy as ****. As talented as he is with the ball, without it he's terrible, positioning and defensive awareness is shocking. It always has been, we just over looked it as he was so productive going forward.

Also, putting a shift in is the bare minimum for a pro athlete ffs. Sick of seeing him lope along. The prem is just too quick for him.

[Charly]

He didnt used to he that bad... so is it laziness? Sad really. Will he wind his contract down with half hearted performances?

[S-RED]

Or be rejuvanated under a new manager/coaching set up

[danperkins]

He certainly didn't used to be this lazy imo, he just doesn't look arsed and it comes across as a bad attitude. If Bradley keeps progressing as he is, that's that position boxed off but it's so early with him and such a small sample size. I can really see Edwards cleaning house with all the high earners

[Slinky Skills]

I have to be honest, bar some poor marking at corners. I've never noticed it before last night, he really didn't do any leg work at all last night and one point tried a half arsed attempt at a tackle. Pretty bad really.

Sent from my SM-S711B using Tapatalk

[Doc_Piptorious]

It is not a new thing though. This season and last season, you either got the 9/10 TAA or the 4/10 version with the latter happening more often.


No real run of 7/10 performances.



The inconsistency was happening long before Klopp said he was off and after Klopp said he was going there was no uptick in personal form or visible effort to try and give the gaffer a big send off.


He wants to go, then just go. If he wants to club to get a fee for him then he can hand in the transfer request after the last game. He wants to sit out his final year, then he sit on the sub bench and watch Bradley be be starting RB.


Not a chance does he deserve an extended contract that comes with a big pay bump. Hell he is not even worth being the third or fourth top earner at the club going by his form of last season and this one.

He should go to Madrid where he can sit and watch the four or five guys who are all better in midfield than him or play RB for them in a team where the full backs are expected to cover ground and stay on their flank.


Grass is not always greener, but if his form here is built on the effort he will now put in for his home town team, I don't hold out much hope of him staying motivated for a prolonged period at another club.

Then again maybe a bigger pay day is what is being chased.

[danperkins]

I would have zero issues with cashing in on him if the money is good.