Why Trent Alexander-Arnold’s new role is working
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- Опубликовано: 2 июн 2024
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When Trent Alexander-Arnold started playing in-field for Liverpool, Jon Mackenzie wasn’t convinced by his performances. But in the 26 games since Alexander-Arnold became an inverted-full back Liverpool have picked up more points than any other Premier League team.
So is the Alexander-Arnold experiment working? Jon eats his words and explains why.
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:31 Why do teams invert their full-backs?
02:01 Analysing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s new role with data
06:29 Are Liverpool getting the typical benefits from inverting Alexander-Arnold?
10:38 Why is this working?
12:53 Was Jon wrong about Trent Alexander-Arnold?
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Shout out to Pep Lijnders for putting his salary up on the Trent role change paying off
Best pep in the prem
What has he and Klopp turned Diaz into ?😂 Has Salah's decision making and overall gameplay improved ? Does Nunez know what offside is ?😂😂😂 What does Gakpo provide ? Pep Ljinders is such a beast
@@joshuakithyoma9575 Whatever it is? Its working. Liverpool are well and truly in the title race without even hitting their peak form
@@uno_tvm pure luck , Liverpool are not a serious team ...no wins against Chelsea ,Brighton ,Luton and Man United prove it ... Garbage sideways passing , 1,000 corners and shots hitting the stands consistently .Our players play like robots , running and more running , no thinking is encouraged by Klopp , making every game predictable and difficult
@@joshuakithyoma9575there’s a reason Klopp and Pep are the coaches of Liverpool and you are not. It’s obviously only pure luck that that is the case.
One point behind the leaders after 17 games.
Pure luck.
Yeah, sounds legit.
I didn’t foresee Trent as a 6 when inverting, more as an 8, just based on his use of the half spaces in possession / arriving late at opposition box
Yep, it feels like hes playing 2nd 6 and 2nd 8 to endo and szobo
He will play double pivot with England alongside rice with Bellingham ahead of
It's interesting watching this after the Arsenal game, where Trent assisted from the exact position you're highlighting around the 6 minute mark - that center circle area. Trent's range of passing has always been incredible, and now that he's more central he's able to have more of an influence.
I’m not sure about this… I think one of the benefits of this system which hasn’t come through yet is unpredictability of the movement of our players.
Trent drops into the backline when the space is there - particularly against high lines that squeeze the midfield. But he still goes further forward when there is space. He has a free role.
People are saying Salah is being limited but it hasn’t affected his goal output at all and he is now our best chance creator from out wide. He is a very different player now so he can be deeper in the build up, which allows Szoboszlai to underlap or Darwin to make runs.
i think its limiting salah... having salah very wide isnt good... in the man united game when gomez came on and played traditional rightback salah got more involved in the game.. had we started the game like that im sure h e would score.... i think some games trent should play traditional right back and create from there... not every game must he be inverted sometimes the midfield looks congested
It’s either sacrifice Salah’s performance or the team’s performance
I also don't think Salah has been good 1v1 this season. He has lost the ball so many times in good position
@@Jur1_00yeah I also noticed that too. Watching him trying to dribble passed mediocre full backs has been sad to watch
Personally i think it would be better to start trent as a 6 and forget this whole inversion and play gomez RB until we buy one fit for purpose trent is too good on the ball too not play him in the middle but i hate watching how open that right side is every game. I feel like weve been largely getting away with it at times, doesnt feel a solid, title winning setup currently but one that will win you some games but also cost you some games. Risky
agreed! no disrespect to the man but salah has lost some of his pace, and adding a defensive right-back to the 11 would let him play further up the pitch where that would hurt his game a little bit less.
That one loss is at Spurs too and it's definitely working. For Liverpool it was essential as they lost the pace on the wings and changed to a number 9 system, though sometimes they still do play with Gakpo as a false 9, however against United it was detrimental as they were so narrow.
I think it works pretty well in games were Liverpool get pressed by the opposition, suggesting the opponent wants to play rather with posession. However, against teams that camp inside their own half, you want Trent to be creative as ball progression wont be too hard
Excellent analysis! Jon usually comes up with stuff that kind of encapsulates what you were thinking, but more exactly and precisely,. However, this analysis comes up with stuff I never even considered.
The tiny little editing graphics your editors do are amwzing, little animations and stuff really add to the video! so cool!
Happy it’s getting results but honestly the way Liverpool sometimes banging long passes out of no where and then lose the ball is triggering me. Need time to get the balance right
Yeah against Manu it seemed they played more with skill than with tactics.
Alteast someone sees it, klopp dont know how to play pep tactics long balls from trent in midfield is just going to kill the attack who need support plus midfield just look confused in this setup.
@@patrickfrancis2485right, he even wastes a lot of those balls.over hit and all that
yup. If getting Trent inverting is to gain more midfield control, its kind of counter-intuitive many times. Trent seems to only hit long range passes as described above. And not much of control. Yes, Trent is capable of hitting great diagonal passes but he needs variation and play more short passes. Playing long passes will always have high chance of turn over. Or maybe there just not enough runners in front of him.
Yeah, this feels like an 17/18 kind of season where the coaching staff are trying to get the tactics right. We seem rather inconsistent with our approach to games atm, albeit it seems to be working more often than not..but we just always seem to be a hair away from getting a mediocre result. A good CDM is lacking imo.
Lovely japan shirt
Liverpool just need to buy a RB
Get Trent fully into midfied and they will be just as if not more dangerous, solve their midfield problem and limit counter attack due to Trent's defensive liabilities, especially against top wingers
I think if you're worried about him defensively as a full back he could be a complete disaster as an outright midfielder.
Tucking inside whilst in possession (and then reverting to a fullback when out of possession) makes sense. But turn overs, against the better teams (no, Utd aren't one - I say as a fan), will be the true test.
@@ronanfitzpatrick1261 i don't think so, an obvious example is Kimmich, he was a pretty good RB but lacked the raw pace for the position but is phenomenal on the ball. He went to midfield and is one of the best right now, Trent could IMO be the best midfielder in the world if he plays there exclusively (more as a CM than CDM though)
@@ronanfitzpatrick1261 defensively in the Champions League, you will almost never see Trent pocket the likes of Vini, Mbappe, even Coman. He will more often than not get smoked by them. Doku had him on strings but Trent saved face by scoring (from a midfielder's position)
@@joesifa5235 I think Kimmich is a great example to emulate, but I don't recall him being considered a weak link defensively, whereas I think the feeling with TAA was always that he left a lit of space behind him that could be exploited if the Liverpool press didn't stop it.
I know a few Liverpool fans who thought Wijnaldum didn't get enough credit for plugging those holes - although I thought prime Henderson did it a lot in the matches I watched - but smaller sample set since I'm not a Pool supporter.
It seems to be hard for people to understand that we have new tactics that the old players adapt to and then we have new players that adapt to everything from tactics to teammates and position changes. They need time, this team is already at a high level, but where they will be in a lenger period of time is a completely different thing.
Was Lahm the first example of this? Would be interesting to see a bit on the history of inverting full backs. Apols if it already exists.
If we go by Pep Guardiola, Dani Alves would be the 1st, but you can find articles saying Cruyff invented it, but Pep perfected and popularized it.
@@chajster Most of the current trends have been done before tbh. I think Ruud Krol played in midfield at times with the Dutch NT that supposedly invented total football in '74. Which in turn was derived from the Magical Magyars and another team Michels watched. Cruijff played in that team and was the extension of Michels on the pitch. Bit like Guardiola's role for Cruijff and Xavi's role for Guardiola.
I appreciate the visual effect making it look like the role selection from Football Manager
excellent video. we should remember our team i changing a lot and players need time to adapt and klopp is making a whole new midfield work whilist changing the system. we should be very thankful for him for us still being #2 on the table as of right now, genius.
Salah's role has changed in this system, but it doesn't mean he is less effective. So far, his G+A-PK/90 in the PL has increased since last season, and is on track to be his third highest in a Liverpool shirt. Ironically, Liverpool's best season since Salah has joined, 19-20, saw Salah's have is 4th highest G+A-PK/90 of his 7 seasons. So just because he isn't peforming at career highs doesn't mean thats bad for Liverpool. I would be curious to see how his other stats are performing in this new system (chances creates, progressive passes/carries, ect.)
production quality here was particularly fantastic
Those fancy sonar graphs just to tell us that TAA playing in the middle allows more passes to left and right. Lol.
The lack of width since Trent inverted has become especially apparent in the past 2 months and the forwards have suffered as a result. There's gotta be a better way to balance this. It's extremely annoying to watch Tsimikas constantly pass back instead of crossing due to the plan now to play through the centre which is just nuts to me as crossing is the only thing Tsimikas is able to do at Robbo's level.
The advantage gained with Trent inverted being Liverpool is able to play more direct attacks might be to utilize the strengths of Darwin and Diaz who are more effective in transition. I can't quite explain why this worked initially in finally overcoming LFC's problem with teams that play a very deep and low block and why it's less so now. But I do think that when this new approach is being blunted, that they should have the flexibility to revert to their previous 2018-2020 style of crossing from the flanks during the game. Gakpo has the intelligence to link play in a crowded box like Firmino and as much as Darwin seems to strike better on the break, his physical attributes mean that slinging crosses to his head might yield dividends especially if other attackers mass into the box to occupy defenders.
thanks for holding yourself accountable. i kept thinking trent working in mid will be temporary. but now I realized I got that notion coz of your last video lmao
I think it's a good mid to long term call tbh.
I think we'll see teams start to exploit it the last 2 months of the season if not sooner
FINALLY. Thanks Jon.
Look, most analysts are fundamentally biased when analyzing LFC. If you judge LFC from a spanish school of possesion perspective, there is no way you fancy them. But Klopp is not that type of coach. He never was. He is different. So when analysing his teams, you should look from a different perspective. You should use Klopp's glasses.
He is a direct attacking coach or as Pep Guardiola once defined, "Red Bull School" coach.
It is not inferior to Pep or Arteta. It's different and it mostly works.
They went on a run towards the end of the season because they made the change then. They've just added Szoboszlai and Mac Allister this season, same role
Absolutely top class analysis! Great graphics from Mark and really clearly explained by Jon
Liverpool should start switching between these two systems mid game when the new one isn't working.
Would be a cool new segment if you can compare past players vs current in similar positions. For example: Maldini vs Terry vs Van Dijk or like a Kaka vs Gerrard vs KDB. Interesting to see that.
boss idea
I think it's hilarious that so many people think they understand football yet bought into the whole "Trent can't defend" mantra. Let's just unpack how unfathomably stupid that is, and how all it was was occasional blips in form, with everyone who can't stand Liverpool on Twitter acting like it meant he was a bad player. Trent literally played almost every single game as a right back in a team that got more points in a 38 game period (approx March 2019 - March 2020 - 110 points!) than any team in the history of Europe's top 5 leagues. He was in a team that got 97+ points in 2 seasons and 92 in another, plus 3 Champions League finals in that time. 3 seasons out of 6 in which Liverpool got more points than any Alex Ferguson side ever did, and 2 of them in the top 4 amounts of points any English top flight team has ever got. It is literally impossible for any team producing such numbers to have any player who isn't world class in his position apart from squad players. All that happened was he got exposed a bit by Hendo's lost legs last season as our midfield fell apart, his confidence dipped and he made a few mistakes for about 4 months. Imagine thinking he can't defend lol
Big man he was exposed last season and it blow up but it has always been there he can defend but isn’t that good at it it’s been a problem since but last season just made it look worse
@@TheofficialGodofwar He's fine at defending he was just out of form cos he was exposed after the midfield's legs had gone and then everyone got on his back. Additionally, when the manager tells you to get forward all the time then of course the strategy is high risk high reward which means gaps at the back. Literally impossible to be a defender in one of the two most consistent teams in the history of the game who got more points than anyone ever and not be absolutely excellent
@@davyprendergast82 see the midfield was an issue but isnt the midfield was decent before but he mad Vini look like r9 in one v one defending he isn’t that good he can defend but isn’t good at it
And still only won 1 league title
@@TheofficialGodofwar If you're referring to Vini, one of the best attackers in the world playing for one of the best teams in the world in Real Madrid, in a final that was won by Courtois and probably would have been a Liverpool win on any other day, then yes, even some of the best players can get skinned by other amazing players at the highest level, just like VVD having off days, or Vidic getting skinned by Torres at Old Trafford, or Stam and Nesta letting 3 in in Istanbul. It doesn't mean they can't defend. We are talking a team that for about three years lost like about 2 or 3 games and he was playing right back in that team. As if he can't defend lol. ok, he's not the literal best defender in the world, but people literally say "Trent can't defend" which is just mad lol
Great analysis, thanks a lot!!
By the way, what's the shirt Jon is wearing?
Funnily enough regarding the point on Liverpool’s attackers being good enough to score chances that other club’s attackers aren’t, lately we’ve seen a downtick in chances scored via Liverpool’s attackers. So maybe, Trent should be occupying that space a bit more to accommodate for Liverpool’s recent inefficiencies in front of goal, at least until the form patches up
I really enjoyed that! Thanks gents
After Wenger popularized attacking fullback in EPL for two decades, Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City and Spurs play with inverted fullbacks nowadays to counter that tactic. It would be interesting to see what Guardiola will do to counter the inverted fullback tactics next season
This is a great video to highlight where stats just dont work out. How about crosses and assists? Trent from the inverted position isn't assisting anywhere close to 2 or 3 of his previous seasons. Furthermore what about this position change actually scuppering Robertsons go forward options, Salah having TAA as an outside runner option and also dare I say Dom also not getting into the position of an 8 at times. For me, it hinders others players too much...
Agreed... maximises Trent's ability to influence the game at the expense of others. Liverpool's attack hasn't quite clicked yet this season and I think that's an important factor as to why.
Wow, thartJapan shirt is stunning, loving the insight of how Trents position change is progressing
Does Liverpool need another ball progressor though? Players like Macalister, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch all are great ball progressors
PR media for Trent. We all know cause he's scouse so he needs to be a starter when in reality getting a great right back with better defence is so much better and balance out the right side totally helping everyone to perform their respective role. Now szobolai and salah is suffering because of the constant switching.
I feel like gravenberch and szoboszlai are far more progressive dribblers than passers though, Trent is the best passer in the team (one of the best in the world)
One reason is Klopp wanted the creative 6 in Thiago but he is injury prone and Trent is the closest to that creative profile
Maybe use salah in the middle and put Elliot on the right, Szobo as a true 10
100% agree
Please bring back the podcasts
Big Reds fan. Trent inverting to RB allows wide open gaps of space in the Right flank. The open gap left by Trent is a big weakness, opponents could exploit, especially with counters and possessing a strong LW play. I still believe it's best Trent moves to the MF, as Deep Lying playmaker with defensive responsibilities. LFC get/play a proper RB.
That kit is beautiful
Would love to see a video on Leicester vs. Ipswich game
don't think we didn't catch that brief chord of the mark carey trapped inside a scattergram jingle
Is Marc Carey still trapped inside the scattergram? (Love the easteregg of the themesong ;-))
No offense but I don't think your right with the direct attacks.
Your wording it as the only reason Liverpool have direct attacks against them is because the invert isn't working in them regards and nothing to do with losing the 2 most defensive midfielders they had.
A solid dm and another cm will do for Liverpool to close that space down.
It also doesn't help that Trent is further out of position when he gives the ball away. And let's be honest, his passing has been atrocious pretty often the last couple seasons.
Quality shirt Jon
I think Konate, when he plays, does such a fantastic job for us defensively on the right side of the defence. It enables us to get the most out of Trent with the ball. I don't think Konate gets the attention his performances deserve!
I would like to see a little flexibility in the system, sometimes the fullback is wide sometimes they come in. Joe Gomez has done surprisingly well when he's been right back playing the TAA role
Wouldn't want to see Gomez have that role permanently, but with TAA and Szoboszlai in midfield there is no reason for it either. He can hang back a lot of the time, then choose his moments going forward. That would be with TAA serving as a number 6 btw and not an inverted full-back. I think one of the difficulties Liverpool has is that no one outside Trent can play his play-maker from right-back role. So when you build the system on that, there are problems when Trent doesn't play. With him in midfield proper, it'd be a different kettle of fish.
Shows how important Trent is to Liverpool and speaks volumes of his quality as a player. I don't care if he has defensive lapses he's a brilliant player
Great one jon
Even we did this with are RB, now he's the highest assister in our league
Where do you want your best players? Hidden out wide or in the middle? This is the philosophy that leads you to inverted wingers who want to cut inside and score rather than cross from the touchline. It's also the philosophy that leads you to want to move Alexander-Arnold into the middle during attacking phase of play. However, I don't think Liverpool see him as fulfilling the enforcer role that they like their midfielders to do off the ball, which is why they would prefer he stays in a RB position in defensive situations.
But make no mistake, this isn't a role created for the role's sake, but rather just a way of getting the best out of one particular player. Alexander-Arnold is such a talented player that it makes absolute sense for Liverpool to build their strategy around him.
What a brilliant kit you are wearing
Same 😂
the little reference to mark carey's song lol
Isnt TAA playing inverted wing back? The inverted fullback normally tucks into a back 3 but the inverted wingback is the one playing 2nd dm??
That's a distinction within the language of Football Manager, not so much in real life.
@@donukb alrights thanks 👍🙏
When is the podcast coming back!
Where did you get that ace Japan top?
but there a flaws in this, based on what he said the fact no one is in that half-space he would normally operate in and salah is been forced to either go very narrow or stay wide means they are not getting a midfield overload like for say, arsenal, city and spurs who achieve this while still using there 8's to get in the half spaces and affect the defensive line of the opposition. trent playing as a 6 doesn't make any sense either as hes not a Zinchenko hes more of a KDB who kills opposition further forward so if he playing long passes from a deep area and hes not carrying the ball forward as much it means , teams just play a low block against liverpool and trent becomes totally useless inverting as liverpool have 1 less player affecting the opposition back line thus either force them to take mroe long shots or relying on pinpoint cross or through balls in very small area to be affective. this in turn leads to your stats about liverpool been very high against direct attacks cause wen teams break there is a area where no one for liverpool is defending or in that zone that they can exploit for an outball to they trigger a counter.
From the 2nd group of charts, hes making way more pass attempt to Salah, essentially feeding Mo more opportunity to score
'Was I wrong about Trent being inverted?'
Well, yes - you were. And your attempt to 'but I'm not wrong really' was wild.
The Japan shirt continuity is great.
Incorrect. An inverted fullback is the guy who acts as a wide centre back in a back 3 when in possession. Trent is an inverted wing back, who goes into midfield to act as an extra midfielder. Support duty.
All makes sense now why we where so desperate for a ball playing DM, a new Hendo, to start to fill those gaps like he did at his best and drift into those wide areas. Feels like that's the missing piece that would allow Salah and Dom to come back inside more often
Cancelo can't defend and in some ways that matches Trent. What's stopping this being as much a success with him at Barca?
I was about to tease then you explained yourself within 10 seconds lol😂
I want to see an updated 'TOTAL' football video. Who is or is everyone doing it now?
I'd like to see a comparison of Trent and Joshua Kimmich. I feel like the two have quite a simlar profile.
Teams cant do it the way trent is because no1 has that player hes so unique and special its insane
This video came out too late, should have come out a month ago. Now the right side seems really dysfunctional with TAA, Szoboszlai and Salah. Mostly because TAA occupies the same spaces as Szobo and it's just not clicking. Big part of causing a pointloss at home against Manchester United. I'm not even going to talk about Nunez or Diaz.
lol I knew when they made the video earlier in the season about how liverpool's experiment wasn't working was going to turn into how liverpool's experiment is working before long
The only thing working about it is him not getting as much stick for his sorry defensive basics because 1/2 the time or more someone else is covering his position instead.
Finally, some unbiased thoughts on the Trent role. The simplest evidence of the inverted full back failing is Jurgen’s recent changes when needing goals being to put Gomez in as a traditional attacking fullback. My view is the change continuing is less out of choice and more out of necessity because Trent is just not putting in the requisite effort as a traditional right back anymore.
the title was different when i woke up, then i fell asleep and its different now
Every time I check this video it's got a new thumbnail / title. 🤣
Liverpool wasn’t comfortably at the top, infact now it is second.
If we were living in 2002 would Trent be David Beckham?
Exactly...but hey Beckham it's so overated. I don't understand, people need to realize he played with two of the most stacked teams in history and succeed in both and playing in very different roles. That's why he is in my opinion one of the best.
I need the Dr Mark Carey chime as an alert on my phone
You should do a deep dive on John McGinn's role (I am not joking)
Sure Jon's analysis and explanation were excellent as usual, but even those got upstaged by that amazing JFA shirt.... :)
i think the role change is fine but it's a band-aid solution to a lack of ball progression in their midfield, and the long term solution will be a new RB + trent as a CM.
A new RB, would mean we need another Trent, but there isn't another Trent.
@@ErnoAlias why not keep trent in the midfield and go for a defensive right back? a player like benjamin pavard maybe? gives the right side more stability, lets trent flourish in the midfield role, and gives salah more freedom to attack instead of dropping back. well i'm a spurs fan so maybe do none of that lol
@@azmilogas the video talks about Trent doesn’t play much like a midfielder does as he sits back to receive the ball and play longer passes and can’t work like most midfielders in tight spaces, so replacing Szoboszlai, Mac Allister or a DM with Trent in midfield seems unwise
@@azmilog So your idea for Klopp is to throw the idea of taking control of the midfield by overloading it to trash can because you have better idea?
@@croissantpower it sounds like a 6 role to me
Well in Jon La' 👏
I don't think many fullbacks are as creative as Trent and even if they are I don't think they have the downsides of Trent so I don't think Trent's new role will be replicated by many.
Where does Jon manage to get all that neat Japan stuff?
And this is the reason that the strikers of Liverpool are scoring less too
Liverpool become too narrow and only want to enter the centre of the field when Trent inverts. They need to test if having left footed LW and right footed RW unlocks Nunez and allows Trent the space to play.
Thank goodness that Southgate identified this position switch so it can benefit his club team as well as England. GOAT
Funnily enough the last game against West Ham he came on in CM and played with his back against goal and dominated in 30 mins with 2 assists. The man is just amazing.
Giving up direct attacks when you have VVD and Allison back there has to be a reason they're okay with not getting benefits 2 and 3.
Really poor assessment of salahs role in the current system. He's playing primarily as an RM and has 14 goals 8 assists in the league. How is that "not working".
You focus too much on the so called “negatives” about his role, than you do the positives. The title should be “Why I wasn’t wrong about Trent Alexander Arnold’s new role” because that’s what you prioritized in the video.
What Will happen with Curtis Jones? Little question
TAA : 70 000 000 euro ‼‼‼ D. Szoboszlai: 75 000 000 euro; ‼‼‼
Thank you for wearing a Japanese shirt🇯🇵
Pep the maestro
Jon's heading ability is much better than Nicolas Jackson's.
HOOOOOLD ON. In English a creative player is a player that creates goals?
I feel like Trent should just be playing as RM in a 4-4-2
Moyes should have watched this before the match
TAA just isnt a RB. 90% of football peeps have known it for years
Love the Japan jersey!!
That 1 lost during this period is the tottenham game, which is robbed by the ref and VAR
Need to buy a dm he can continue to play the rb/ dlp role just need cover with legs endo is not fast enough and maca isn’t a true dm
Tifo IRL after a bad performance by Trent "Why Trent new role isnt suited for him"
After a good performance "Here is how Trent can be a midfielder"