Trent Alexander-Arnold is defending better than last season â his Liverpool team-mates just need to cover him more
https://theathletic.com/2516066/2021/04/13/trent-alexander-arnold-is-defending-better-than-last-season-his-liverpool-team-mates-just-need-to-cover-him-more/By Caoimhe O'Neill and Mark Carey Apr 13, 2021 54
Everybody is still talking about Trent Alexander-Arnold.
He is regarded by the footballing fraternity as one of the best full-backs in the world â and has been for a while. His numbers and medals speak for themselves. However, when Gareth Southgate omitted the 22-year-old from his England squad last month it cast doubt over Alexander-Arnoldâs capabilities.
A young player who has been on the scene since 2017 has become tangled in a seemingly endless debate. Will Alexander-Arnold be named in the England squad for the European Championship this summer? Should he be? Is he good enough defensively?
A lot of questions are now being asked as Alexander-Arnold is placed under a microscopic level of scrutiny. Beer gardens, which opened across England on Monday, will now be among the newest venues to play host to these ongoing debates. Over freshly poured pints and from in front of TV screens and mobile phones, Alexander-Arnoldâs every move for Liverpool is being lambasted or worshipped. There seems to be nothing in between.
Every defensive mistake he makes sees him called into question. Every stunning moment â like his late winner against Aston Villa â sees him idolised.
âAre you not entertained?!â he playfully captioned a picture he shared to social media on Saturday after the 2-1 win at Anfield. Itâs entertaining, alright. But, after seeing how Real Madrid clearly targeted the right channel and Liverpoolâs high line, should JĂźrgen Klopp be worried about the return leg? Should he be adapting his tactics and abandoning his high line? Should the right-backâs team-mates be doing more to protect him in these situations? Should Alexander-Arnold go forward less often?
Liverpool will need to offer him more support in the second leg against Real is one quickfire answer. The right side was repeatedly exposed by searching balls from Thibaut Courtois, Toni Kroos and Luka Modric among others. The pace and control of Vinicius Junior, combined with support from full-back Ferland Mendy, saw Alexander-Arnold often outnumbered, particularly when Karim Benzema would wade across.
Right from the off at Valdebebas, Real looked to set Vinicius to work on Liverpoolâs right flank. With Alexander-Arnold out of position in this instance, and Ozan Kabak and Andrew Robertsonâs attention focused on Marco Asensio, Lucas Vasquez launched a searching ball over the top targeting the space in behind â a warning sign of what was to come.
Nathaniel Phillips, still inexperienced at this level, was able to read the pass and get in front of it. Liverpool came away with possession momentarily before Real won it back in the opposition half.
A few minutes later and Liverpool were bunched up on their left-hand side. Kroos, who later played the direct ball between Alexander-Arnold and Phillips that Vinicius was able to control and finish beyond Alisson to make it 1-0, played a quick pass into Vinicius. Alexander-Arnold moved across to put pressure on Vinicius, who had Mendy charging on the overlap.
Liverpool were sluggish to react and support Alexander-Arnold at this moment. Phillips got across but was unable to stop Vinicius before Fabinho eventually intervened and kicked the ball out for a corner to momentarily relieve the pressure of what might easily have been an easy finish for Benzema or Asensio.
Fabinho getting back to deal with the danger is a timely reminder of his importance in defensive midfield, having spent much of the season covering injuries at centre-back. However, the responsibility of providing support for Alexander-Arnold on the right and Robertson on the left is crucial and falls to everyone. It is not just the central defenders who need to be shifting across but Liverpoolâs forward line and all of their midfielders need to be lending a hand in rooting out possession.
When Asensio played a ball over to Mendy, Liverpool shifted across to support Alexander-Arnold. Mohamed Salah raced back to support his full-back as the midfield trio of Naby Keita, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum â who was covering for Robertson â also came across.
Though, as we can see from their positioning, they didnât all sprint across with the intensity Liverpool fans are used to seeing. Vinicius is goalside and Mendy can play a ball in the direction of the forward given the fact Keita pushed out towards the wing and vacated the space.
Klopp is not going to abandon his high line and will still want Alexander-Arnold him hurtling forward â because he offers so much to Liverpoolâs attack.
Even though his goal and assist figures have dropped off this season, the risk is ultimately more often than not worth the reward. In the first leg, Alexander-Arnold made costly errors for both first-half goals and could have reacted a lot better to Realâs third goal, but he also showed his excellence in abundance when getting back to prevent a high-quality chance.
Another goal would have all but ended Liverpoolâs chances of progressing into the semi-final stage of the Champions League. Asensio is in a position to tap the ball in for an easy chance, but Alexander-Arnold raced backâŚ
âŚand did just enough to put him off, getting a touch on the ball before it was collected by Alisson.
His defensive skill set is being placed under the microscope during every game. However, the data suggests his duel win rate has increased in most areas this season compared with the 2019-20 campaign.
His amount of âtrueâ tackles (tackles plus challenges lost plus fouls committed) is at an all-time low (4.8 after adjusting for possession) compared with previous seasons, which does suggest he is putting a foot in less than he has in recent years. However, he is winning those challenges at a better rate than in previous seasons.
In fact, he ranks among the top 10 full-backs in the Premier League for tackle win rate, which indicates his impressive timing.
Winning aerial duels might not be his forte, but Alexander-Arnold is difficult to dribble around. It is a misconception that he is unable to stop opposing players running beyond him. His âdribbled past rateâ of 28.8 per cent shows he is beaten far less than he was last term (43.3 per cent).
Despite playing in an unsettled Liverpool team missing their first-choice centre-backs through injury, his defending has actually improved. He has made mistakes, but without Joe Gomez for company as the right-sided centre-back, as well as Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip, there are mitigating factors.
Liverpoolâs aggressive defensive line has not helped at times, either. It has benefited the attack, but when the midfielders and forwards lose the ball and the opposition beats the press, it leaves Liverpoolâs high defenders even more exposed. If Kroos isnât being pressed, for example, he has all the time in the world to pick out his pacey team-mates.
As the season has progressed, Liverpool have looked gradually weaker at the back. However, even in an impressive collective defensive performance, the warning signs could be seen in the 1-1 draw away to Manchester City in November.
Liverpool do seem to press their opponents with less intensity this season, which could be down to any number of things â a seemingly never-ending season, a lack of rotation from Klopp. But against City, they were at the peak of their pressing game. When Raheem Sterling had the ball and cut inside Alexander-Arnold, Diogo Jota was there to put pressure on Sterling.
Jordan Henderson also worked back and eventually, Liverpool came away with possession. Defending and pressing as a team has been Liverpoolâs strong point in recent seasons and their failure to do so against Madrid is what cost them.
There are plenty of instances when Alexander-Arnold has committed to an attack and wonât get back in time as the opposition break. This is the risk of playing with such attacking full-backs. And it almost cost them against City as Kevin De Bruyneâs cross located Sterling at the far post.
Alisson was able to make a block on the attempted shot as Matip covered in behind and cleared the ball.
With Alexander-Arnold having raced back into position just as the shot was played, this could have easily been viewed as a costly error had it been a goal â but Liverpool dealt with the danger, which is something they usually do for the most part.
As Liverpool made a clearance, Joao Cancelo won the race to the ball up against Alexander-Arnold and had a lot of space to run into.
Out came Matip who was unable to get a touch on the ball. Roberto Firmino, as Jota did in the earlier instance, had sprinted back to help out. The ball found Sterling before Henderson was able to get across and break up play.
Later in the game, a pass from Matip intended for Alexander-Arnold was cut out by Sterling, who then broke forward.
A familiar pattern was Liverpoolâs ability to swarm the ball. They did so again here and Matip was able to retain possession before getting a pass to Alexander-Arnold at the second time of asking.
Klopp is not going to abandon his footballing philosophy. His high line and attacking full-backs have helped Liverpool to conquer England, Europe and the world. The hope is that once he has Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip back at his disposal, things will get easier for Alexander-Arnold on the right.
One thing the defender could benefit from immediately is more intensity from his team-mates in midfield and attack. If Liverpool do not press the ball against Real and look as absent in midfield as they did in the first leg, they will see Alexander-Arnold targeted again and will have no hope of making it into the last four of the competition.
