Trent Alexander-Arnold

[Sus]

This place will explode on August 31st 2025 having made no new signings

No way that will be happening - if it does, every right for us to blow up

[Cerbie]

No way that will be happening - if it does, every right for us to blow up

Arne has hinted at strengthening in the summer in interviews over the weekend, iirc.

[The_weatherman]

12 times is such a wild statistic and all so easy... it is absolutely bonkers. Trent is so lucky Doku is utterly **** at kicking a ball otherwise the media would be in full meltdown mode, his body position when defending is so strange on times. This type of thing happens most games with Trent and he specifically needs other players to cover him, we seen that yesterday multiple times with Ibou and Mo. Ibou is so important to us but is injury prone as is and he has to put in over time in every single game covering for Trent who is constantly caught up the pitch, dribbled past and targeted over the top. Teams target that weak area in almost every game.

We have all forgiven his defensive frailties over the years because he was producing so much going forward and has a fabulous strike of a football. That really isn't the case anymore, his production levels have dropped off, his Hollywood balls often come to nothing and he often gets accused of being lazy. Imo people are starting to notice how much of a weak link he is at the back.

Same goes for Robbo who was always a better defender than Trent, not as gifted but never lazy and had great production. Tweaks in formation and him having to change his role slightly have been mentioned as to the big drop off in his production and have some merit but in reality, he has lost a bit of pace and can't seem to run by defenders anymore and get balls in from the bi line. He has 0 assists in the league this season and looks a shadow of the player he used to be defensively. Two legends for us over years, tough watch these days.

Imo two positions that need immediate addressing. Timmy isn't good enough to be the main starter and hard to know how Bradley will go.

While I agree mostly, I think it's a bit harsh in Trent, I feel he has more hockey assists really than assist latey, he can turn defense to offensive in three seconds. But his defensive work is an issue for sure.

[kingfunk]

Arne has hinted at strengthening in the summer in interviews over the weekend, iirc.

Yip, Arne has more or less said he has already identified the positions that need strengthening and I’d be very surprised if Hughes et al were not already putting in all the background work for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for each position. I reckon we will see 3 top signings similar to the year we signed Alisson, Virg…

[Cerbie]

Yip, Arne has more or less said he has already identified the positions that need strengthening and I’d be very surprised if Hughes et al were not already putting in all the background work for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for each position. I reckon we will see 3 top signings similar to the year we signed Alisson, Virg…

If this happens and City get dumped out of the league for any period, we could be back in 1975, with a period of domination ahead that no sovereign wealth fund could buy. Backroom strategy, on-field talent and tactical adaptability would be v hard to match.

Some huges 'if's in there I know, but I'm a bit giddy at that even being a remote possibility!!

[Buzzo]

Yip, Arne has more or less said he has already identified the positions that need strengthening and I’d be very surprised if Hughes et al were not already putting in all the background work for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for each position. I reckon we will see 3 top signings similar to the year we signed Alisson, Virg…

Yeah I think 3, 4 if Trent leaves also

[red g]

Yip, Arne has more or less said he has already identified the positions that need strengthening and I’d be very surprised if Hughes et al were not already putting in all the background work for 1st, 2nd and 3rd choices for each position. I reckon we will see 3 top signings similar to the year we signed Alisson, Virg…

Think we will push bigger this year. For once strengthen from a position of strength.

200m Spent this summer. Imo.

[rudedog]

Although Trent got dribbled past loads, he wasn’t really caught out of position much and generally did enough to slow Doku down. This gave our CBs enough time to get into position, ready for the inevitable cross.

Trent also did play the pass before the assist for our second goal

[baitman]

Although Trent got dribbled past loads, he wasn’t really caught out of position much and generally did enough to slow Doku down. This gave our CBs enough time to get into position, ready for the inevitable cross.

Trent also did play the pass before the assist for our second goal

Very true, maybe the Captain has told him

[Exiled_red]

Yeah I think that the criticism of Trent was a bit harsh too, the stat is mad but if you are letting a guy dribble past you down the outside and at best throw crosses into the box which our defenders can deal with comfortably I don't think that's a problem. Despite the stat Doku was largely nullified by being kept in areas where he couldn't do much damage, for all the times he might have got the better of Trent he didn't create anything his xA stats were really low I believe, that being the case you could argue we defended well against him inspite of the stat that's quoted

[danperkins]

Yeah I think that the criticism of Trent was a bit harsh too, the stat is mad but if you are letting a guy dribble past you down the outside and at best throw crosses into the box which our defenders can deal with comfortably I don't think that's a problem. Despite the stat Doku was largely nullified by being kept in areas where he couldn't do much damage, for all the times he might have got the better of Trent he didn't create anything his xA stats were really low I believe, that being the case you could argue we defended well against him inspite of the stat that's quoted

Getting dribbled by 12 times in key areas is a real problem imo. The only reason you can say it's not a problem after the fact is because by some bizarre turn of events, nothing came of all 12. It would be a different conversation if City scored from some of them.

[DerKrampus]

Getting dribbled by 12 times in key areas is a real problem imo. The only reason you can say it's not a problem after the fact is because by some bizarre turn of events, nothing came of all 12. It would be a different conversation if City scored from some of them.

Or it isn't because of the way we set up. And I'd like to think that Slot know what TAA's strengths and weaknesses are and is happy to work that way - how many right backs would deliver the ball to Salah the way he did?

[kingfunk]

Luckily on a couple of occasions Salah dropped into the RB position and covered him, made a couple of nice blocks for Doku’s crosses. Great teamwork but really highlighted Trent’s weakness.

[danperkins]

Or it isn't because of the way we set up. And I'd like to think that Slot know what TAA's strengths and weaknesses are and is happy to work that way - how many right backs would deliver the ball to Salah the way he did?

Setting up has nothing got to do with 1 vs 1, sure it got so bad that Ibou and Mo had to do the donkey work to cover. Of course Slot knows strengths and weakness and Trent does get a hell of a lot more freedom than most fullbacks.

There are plenty of fullbacks that have similar or better production than Trent this and even last season who are better defenders and don't take set pieces to bump up numbers. He used to be an anomaly, as did Robbo but they are just not stand out anymore with regards to production and performance. We used to be able to forgive Trents defensive errors as he was putting up insane numbers, not so much anymore. Him and Robbo have been brilliant for us and Trent does have a magic wand but imo it's very evident than we need upgrades on both the right and left sides of our defence.

[DerKrampus]

Luckily on a couple of occasions Salah dropped into the RB position and covered him, made a couple of nice blocks for Doku’s crosses. Great teamwork but really highlighted Trent’s weakness.

Interestingly, different players covered Trent at different times. We're really conserving energy well here!