Trent Alexander-Arnold

[Buzzo]

Trent, Hendo, Jota, VVD all putting their feet up this summer instead of playing at the Euros.

Robertson on the other can do with the additional 7 games that Scotland will be playing. He's a machine

[BobTheCharmer]

He's had plenty of absolute stinkers this season. A few weeks ago in the away leg in Europe he was at fault. But from the highlights I've seen he does seem to have picked his game up, especially from an attacking point of view. It would be mad not to take him but personally I'd rather he rested and stayed at home. As soon as England get beat and trents at fault for a goal, he'll be crucified. Don't need the agro. Hansen rarely played for Scotland, no biggie.

[danperkins]

The old Trent is definitely back, he looks so sharp and is raiding down the wing in recent weeks. Rather he isn't picked, rest up and come back next season with a point to prove. The one who needs a rest more than anyone is Robbo, he has been absolutely shocking this season.

[Buzzo]

He has not been 'absolutely shocking' FFS.

He has not been quite the force of recent years, but then look at who is in front of him and who is next to him. He's been solid 6-7/10 as opposed to the 8-9/10 we had gotten used to.

[rudedog]

He has engaged beast mode in recent weeks - when he sets off going forward at full tilt, he reminds me of Gerrard and Bale in their peak in that he can just power through/past players like they are minor nuisances. With a bit of shooting practice , I think he could become the best box to box player in the world.

You could argue that he is currently more influential than Gerrard was at the same age.

[Mr Pink]

I heard the commentator talking about his number of assists this season compared to the past 2/3 seasons- stats can be misleading though. I think his drop in assists says more about the front 3’s finishing than anything. Yes, he hasn’t had the best season, but the amount of factors involved, I can’t see him not being world class again next year- and he hd been the last few weeks. His game against united was as good as any game of his I can remember. If the finishing was better he’d have had another 2/3 assists in that game.

[peekay]

I heard the commentator talking about his number of assists this season compared to the past 2/3 seasons- stats can be misleading though. I think his drop in assists says more about the front 3’s finishing than anything. Yes, he hasn’t had the best season, but the amount of factors involved, I can’t see him not being world class again next year- and he hd been the last few weeks. His game against united was as good as any game of his I can remember. If the finishing was better he’d have had another 2/3 assists in that game.

He still has the highest assists among all defenders in the premier league. If our forwards particularly Mane and Firmino's finishing improved by 25%, his assist numbers would have doubled.

Yes, he did underperform in the middle third of the season. But that was underperforming with respect to his incredibly high standards. He is still only 22 years old. I am a teacher and when you have a prodigious student underperforming, you talk to them, shield them, support them, give them confidence, try to find out what is the issue and figure it out in private. Instead Southgate went into thick neanderthal PE teacher mode and showed "tough" love.

[Fosterbloke]

It does yeah. Also has he beefed up? He's looking buff as ****.

Next it'll be baby oil on the arms...

[danperkins]

He has not been 'absolutely shocking' FFS.

He has not been quite the force of recent years, but then look at who is in front of him and who is next to him. He's been solid 6-7/10 as opposed to the 8-9/10 we had gotten used to.

I think he is a brilliant left back, one of the best in the world and actually started the season very well imo when others were failing but by the standards he has set, he's been a poor for quite some time now.

Few talking about his assists numbers dropping, yes the forward lads have been poor but the quality of his passing, crossing & corners have dropped off so much in comparison to what we are used to seeing. What imo is the reason for this? Simple, he's ****ing knackered. The guy desperately needs a rest. I am not worried about him at all, he's just been massively over played. Trent has been like a slug for most of the season but in recent weeks he has gone back into full beast mode. We have two world class full backs that have played too many minutes, as we just do not have quality backups to take some responsibility whilst these guys rest up. They are the least of our worries but for me it's pretty obvious that both have had very poor seasons.

[danperkins]

He is a decent young Full back to be fair. Only 21 with plenty of potential.

Nowhere near the levels that TAA has already shown, but Reece James is a good full back and a very good full back for his age.

If I was managing the English team I would have Reece James as my back up to Trent.

think James looks a talent.

[Corndog]

The biggest reason Trent and Robbo's assists are down this season isn't even to do with the forwards in my opinion.

It's a consequence of teams adapting to how LFC plays and a change in our playing style. 3 years ago, they didn't go into a game with LFC as conservative as they do now. That meant we could catch them much more easily on the counter when defences weren't set, just look at the number of mane, firmino and salah tap ins from early balls whipped in low and hard from either fullback in those seasons.

After a quite frankly ridiculously consistent domination of everyone bar man city led to points hauls of 97 and 99 points, a european cup and a PL, teams rightly fear coming up against Liverpool.

They take the only option they can and sit deep with at least 8 men (excluding the GK) behind the ball and they do not budge except for a situation where they think they might break fast and have a 3 vs 3 or 3 vs 2 counter. (They know if they're lucky they get 1-2 opportunities like this a game plus set pieces). Even sides like Chelsea or Spurs or United or Arsenal set up like this against us at the start of the season.

Robbo and Trent have not suddenly forgotten how to put in great crosses, but you can't whip in those early balls on the break if you're dominating possession and field position in the opponents third 60,70,80% of the time. The space just isn't there.

It's a tough change but I don't think the team has transitioned smoothly to being a team that takes advantage of this well enough. With VVD, Gomez or Matip in the side i think it's a different story because they are all great ball playing centre halves who can switch play or bypass a crowded midfield very quickly but even then this is a new challenge.

[rudedog]

Speaking of Robbo needing a break - what is the situation with Tsimikas now? He's barely kicked a ball since joining, weird signing.

Tiredness aside, Robbo is also most effective with an inform Mane infront of him...

[Kenneth]

Maybe he's going through the same process as Robbo did when he came.

[Rafa Justice]

Speaking of Robbo needing a break - what is the situation with Tsimikas now? He's barely kicked a ball since joining, weird signing.

Tiredness aside, Robbo is also most effective with an inform Mane infront of him...

Thought it was down to not trusting him alongside a 5th choice CB.

[Shaggy]

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