Trent Alexander-Arnold Player Thread (D)

Didn't even look half arsed last night, shouldn't have started yesterday if he wasn't fit enough to so Klopp has to take a share of the responsibility with that 1.

Might be a little selfish and ignorant of me to say & I really feel for anyone who loses a mother or father especially as young as he is, but Bradley can't come back soon enough.

Attitude was a disgraceful yesterday wanted to be Roy of the Rovers. Baradleys attitude would have been much better but for the circumstances

My 10 year old today said something that kind of hit me. He said after Trent let Martenelli run by him and he jogged back, allowing someone else to clean up his mess "you would think he would try and shut everyone up about Bradley. He seems to think he's owed his spot". Wild moment for me. My boys getting older and I guess he isn't as dumb as he looks.

Your lad is absolutely spot on.

Watched the match with my dad and the pair of us came out with "you lazy c**t" at the same time.

Disgraceful attitude and work ethic

He actually couldn’t be bothered to sprint back to defend. Nothing more, it had all to do with him deciding to not do it

He did nothing first half and barely got the ball but still refused to track back and defend his own full back position

I’ve always defended him but what he did was not defendable

You must earn the right to be on the pitch and fight for the shirt but he feels he doesn’t have to defend and leaves it to his team mates

He was wide right and barely got into the other teams box and we spent most of the first half having no shots or chances, so how did he not defend well or be in position if all we were doing was defending or passing between our defenders? Disgraceful

Was in no man’s land standing by the centre pitch whilst jogging back when he needed too

He should be dropped

It wasn't the lack of tracking back that bothered me as much because even at full tilt, Trent isn't catching Martinelli. What got me was the one on the touchline where Martinelli just cut inside and Trent couldn't even be arsed to put a foot out to either block the ball or at least bring the Arsenal man down.

We all know he's not the best defender in the world but questions have to be asked of those around him as well. Why aren't Konate and/or Van Dijk getting a hold of him and telling him to put the effort in and hold his position for ten minutes? Why isn't Klopp forcing him to stay behind after training and work on the defensive side of things? Why isn't he showing enough maturity to want to improve in himself?

And it's all very well saying put him in midfield but a midfielder has to defend as well, maybe even more so than at full back given the way we play. If he's playing in the middle and Bradley is bombing on then is Trent gonna cover the right back slot from midfield when he can't/won't do it when he's playing there? The first thing everyone sees in a Klopp midfield (and ok it won't be next season) is the work rate.

We had to change our entire midfield in the summer because they couldn't get round the pitch as Jürgen demands. And I think putting Trent in midfield could end up exposing his defensive frailities even more. He's fine when given 30 yards of space to spray the ball around but harried, he comes unstuck and if he's losing possession in midfield then the opposition have a free run at our back line - Bournemouth game at Anfield springs to mind.

I've said it before, but I think he feels he's too good a player to be in the back four. He's technically able to put a ball on a sixpence and has the vision to pick out any pass, but whether he has that combative nature to his game (Think Endo)...needed for the midfield is good question.
Putting in the hard yards seems to desert him a bit too often, and that is a road no player needs to go down (Look at Ross Barkley how easy it is for a decent career can go off the rails...albeit he has realised his error and is making an effort to reignite it) Elite sport is constant effort....Trent's far too gifted to be gambling with his career, you can't stay at the top without the work rate.

He just looked like he couldn't be arsed.

Stick to that c**t like glue Trent and then you don't have to spend all match, chasing his tail all over the pitch.

At times he was standing 15-20 meters away from him. Man him the F**k up!!!!

It wasn't the lack of tracking back that bothered me as much because even at full tilt, Trent isn't catching Martinelli. What got me was the one on the touchline where Martinelli just cut inside and Trent couldn't even be arsed to put a foot out to either block the ball or at least bring the Arsenal man down.

We all know he's not the best defender in the world but questions have to be asked of those around him as well. Why aren't Konate and/or Van Dijk getting a hold of him and telling him to put the effort in and hold his position for ten minutes? Why isn't Klopp forcing him to stay behind after training and work on the defensive side of things? Why isn't he showing enough maturity to want to improve in himself?

And it's all very well saying put him in midfield but a midfielder has to defend as well, maybe even more so than at full back given the way we play. If he's playing in the middle and Bradley is bombing on then is Trent gonna cover the right back slot from midfield when he can't/won't do it when he's playing there? The first thing everyone sees in a Klopp midfield (and ok it won't be next season) is the work rate.

We had to change our entire midfield in the summer because they couldn't get round the pitch as Jürgen demands. And I think putting Trent in midfield could end up exposing his defensive frailities even more. He's fine when given 30 yards of space to spray the ball around but harried, he comes unstuck and if he's losing possession in midfield then the opposition have a free run at our back line - Bournemouth game at Anfield springs to mind.

Yeah I remember that one where he just let Martinelli cut inside. Classic Trent defending - he doesn't stay balanced and force his opponent to do something, he over commits, sells himself, and the opponent just has to go the other way and he's gone. It's like he doesn't want the hassle of having to stay with his man so he makes a token gesture at a tackle while actually just taking himself out of the play. It's laziness more than anything.

I was saying before the game that I thought Bradley's form would force Trent to defend better. Well it didn't happen this game. He'll have to though, or Bradley will get picked ahead of him. He's got away with too much lazy defending, partly cos his long passing is so good, partly cos we haven't had a top class alternative. He needs to wake up to the fact Bradley actually could take his spot.

It wasn't the lack of tracking back that bothered me as much because even at full tilt, Trent isn't catching Martinelli. What got me was the one on the touchline where Martinelli just cut inside and Trent couldn't even be arsed to put a foot out to either block the ball or at least bring the Arsenal man down.

We all know he's not the best defender in the world but questions have to be asked of those around him as well. Why aren't Konate and/or Van Dijk getting a hold of him and telling him to put the effort in and hold his position for ten minutes? Why isn't Klopp forcing him to stay behind after training and work on the defensive side of things? Why isn't he showing enough maturity to want to improve in himself?

And it's all very well saying put him in midfield but a midfielder has to defend as well, maybe even more so than at full back given the way we play. If he's playing in the middle and Bradley is bombing on then is Trent gonna cover the right back slot from midfield when he can't/won't do it when he's playing there? The first thing everyone sees in a Klopp midfield (and ok it won't be next season) is the work rate.

We had to change our entire midfield in the summer because they couldn't get round the pitch as Jürgen demands. And I think putting Trent in midfield could end up exposing his defensive frailities even more. He's fine when given 30 yards of space to spray the ball around but harried, he comes unstuck and if he's losing possession in midfield then the opposition have a free run at our back line - Bournemouth game at Anfield springs to mind.

Excellent points and I've said it debates before when people have said to start him as the number 6 that's it's not the position for him either especially if he played in his own.

If he were ever to play in midfield the place for him is the number 8 right sided position.

Totally agree your point about him being able to cover when the RB goes forward as that's not really his game either.

It wasn't the lack of tracking back that bothered me as much because even at full tilt, Trent isn't catching Martinelli. What got me was the one on the touchline where Martinelli just cut inside and Trent couldn't even be arsed to put a foot out to either block the ball or at least bring the Arsenal man down.

We all know he's not the best defender in the world but questions have to be asked of those around him as well. Why aren't Konate and/or Van Dijk getting a hold of him and telling him to put the effort in and hold his position for ten minutes? Why isn't Klopp forcing him to stay behind after training and work on the defensive side of things? Why isn't he showing enough maturity to want to improve in himself?

And it's all very well saying put him in midfield but a midfielder has to defend as well, maybe even more so than at full back given the way we play. If he's playing in the middle and Bradley is bombing on then is Trent gonna cover the right back slot from midfield when he can't/won't do it when he's playing there? The first thing everyone sees in a Klopp midfield (and ok it won't be next season) is the work rate.

We had to change our entire midfield in the summer because they couldn't get round the pitch as Jürgen demands. And I think putting Trent in midfield could end up exposing his defensive frailities even more. He's fine when given 30 yards of space to spray the ball around but harried, he comes unstuck and if he's losing possession in midfield then the opposition have a free run at our back line - Bournemouth game at Anfield springs to mind.

Very good post.

I said similar 18 months ago and was called out for it. Yet here we are 18 months later and its just as bad if not worse.

18 months ago I said this lad will never be one of the greats because the greats whether at this club or another put the effort in to get better. The greats analyse every mm of their game looking for a way to improve, to be even better and carry on learning. I called him out for not just  not working on his weaknesses but questioned whether he thought he was above it or needed to. He's no interest on improving the weak aspects of his game. He didn't 18 months ago and I'd say his weaknesses have got worse since then.

I also posed the question 18 months ago why are the senior pros, Henderson, milner etc not getting in this lads face and challenging him because there had been so many instances of outright laziness to go with his clear disinterest in defending. As dunlop Says, why isn't he working on it ... being forced to work on it.

18 months after I called him out for it I'd have hoped to sit here now and say ' well he's not maldini' in the defensive stakes but I can see clear improvement and proof he's trying to be better and improve his game. Because after all, this benefits the team as the back 4 will be more of a unit. But he is getting worse.

For all his qualities with the ball at his feet, it's clear he doesn't enjoy the other side of the game. I don't want to see him at right back , Bradley has done great there and it's clear the other side of the game isn't above him. I'd have Gomez at right back over him too.

So this brings us to the midfield and we're once again dunlop makes a good point. In midfield there is 'the other side of the game' as well. And as good as he could be in there in my opinion, if he's not going to do the other side of it then does he get in?

To think this lad is vice-captain and turn a show in like that on Sunday. There is no way martinelli would have had so much joy against Bradley. I don't know if that boy will make it here long term. But he's tenacious defensively, sticks to his task and he'd have put a marker on martinelli early doors ... quite simply he would have done alot better.

Trent ... where do we go? If you stop putting the work in, and think you've made it in this game it has a habit of finding you out.

If I was trent and I was being questioned like this, and in the media and I had anything about me, I'd want to work day and night at it to be better. I don't want to unload on him , but he was a disgrace on Sunday and alot of what he did , or didn't do just drove me to the point of anger. Arsenal are a decent side. Can't just leave it to konate or someone else to do your job.

It's a shame. So much talent ... he can do pretty much anything with a football. But to be a great in this game you've got to have the work ethic too ... every day every session every game.

Very good post.

I said similar 18 months ago and was called out for it. Yet here we are 18 months later and its just as bad if not worse.

18 months ago I said this lad will never be one of the greats because the greats whether at this club or another put the effort in to get better. The greats analyse every mm of their game looking for a way to improve, to be even better and carry on learning. I called him out for not just  not working on his weaknesses but questioned whether he thought he was above it or needed to. He's no interest on improving the weak aspects of his game. He didn't 18 months ago and I'd say his weaknesses have got worse since then.

I also posed the question 18 months ago why are the senior pros, Henderson, milner etc not getting in this lads face and challenging him because there had been so many instances of outright laziness to go with his clear disinterest in defending. As dunlop Says, why isn't he working on it ... being forced to work on it.

18 months after I called him out for it I'd have hoped to sit here now and say ' well he's not maldini' in the defensive stakes but I can see clear improvement and proof he's trying to be better and improve his game. Because after all, this benefits the team as the back 4 will be more of a unit. But he is getting worse.

For all his qualities with the ball at his feet, it's clear he doesn't enjoy the other side of the game. I don't want to see him at right back , Bradley has done great there and it's clear the other side of the game isn't above him. I'd have Gomez at right back over him too.

So this brings us to the midfield and we're once again dunlop makes a good point. In midfield there is 'the other side of the game' as well. And as good as he could be in there in my opinion, if he's not going to do the other side of it then does he get in?

To think this lad is vice-captain and turn a show in like that on Sunday. There is no way martinelli would have had so much joy against Bradley. I don't know if that boy will make it here long term. But he's tenacious defensively, sticks to his task and he'd have put a marker on martinelli early doors ... quite simply he would have done alot better.

Trent ... where do we go? If you stop putting the work in, and think you've made it in this game it has a habit of finding you out.

If I was trent and I was being questioned like this, and in the media and I had anything about me, I'd want to work day and night at it to be better. I don't want to unload on him , but he was a disgrace on Sunday and alot of what he did , or didn't do just drove me to the point of anger. Arsenal are a decent side. Can't just leave it to konate or someone else to do your job.

It's a shame. So much talent ... he can do pretty much anything with a football. But to be a great in this game you've got to have the work ethic too ... every day every session every game.

He see's himself these days as a creative player and not a defensive player, I think defending bores him...it's not enough " football"
I think the new gaffer will either transition him into midfield ( not as easy as one might think )...or he'll want away...it's clear he doesn't want to, or is prepared to, remain in the back four.

Gets ruined by elite wingers, doesn't put a foot wrong against average prem wingers. Fine for the most part but will never have confidence in us being super elite if he is in defence. Having a chink in your defensive armour will always be lapped up by teams competing for trophies. Arsenal, City, R.Madrid etc all expose him most games

Gets ruined by elite wingers, doesn't put a foot wrong against average prem wingers. Fine for the most part but will never have confidence in us being super elite if he is in defence. Having a chink in your defensive armour will always be lapped up by teams competing for trophies. Arsenal, City, R.Madrid etc all expose him most games

It’s not that he gets ruined

He doesn’t even attempt to track back or sprint so he doesn’t even try

That’s the whole issue here, there is no excuse for him being randomly on the half way line jogging back whilst everyone else is sprinting to save the goal from his position may I add

The excuse is if he was attacking up top but he simply wasn’t

It was purely a work ethic and attitude and he chose he could not be bothered

He actually couldn’t be bothered and yesterday was the first time I have given up

Previously he was attacking and up top but yesterday he wasn’t and he Still couldn’t bother running back a little while he was close by

I rather we sell him overseas and get a new right back in with passion and commitment to defend and attack

Trent abandoning his defensive duties because he can't be arsed running back against wingers? Yep, sounds about right.

Stick him on the bench until he's ready to fight for his place. Why the VC was given to him in the first please, god only knows.

Besides of Klopp I can't see any top manager persistently play him at RB.
From my memory he has decent to good defensive so far this season but this last game was one of his worst I can recall. As many said above problem is his attitude not skill and the improvement definitely necessary.

He see's himself these days as a creative player and not a defensive player, I think defending bores him...it's not enough " football"
I think the new gaffer will either transition him into midfield ( not as easy as one might think )...or he'll want away...it's clear he doesn't want to, or is prepared to, remain in the back four.

Yea and I do think Jürgen has been happy to facilitate his movement into being a creative player and possible accepts his lack of defensive responsibility more then he maybe should?

Trent is a generational talent as a footballer I don't think that is in question but we could very well end up in a scenario where a new manager doesn't see where he fits and could see the logic in selling him as one of our highest value players to structure the squad how he wants.

He see's himself these days as a creative player and not a defensive player, I think defending bores him...it's not enough " football"
I think the new gaffer will either transition him into midfield ( not as easy as one might think )...or he'll want away...it's clear he doesn't want to, or is prepared to, remain in the back four.

I think saying he doesn't want to defend is a bit harsh. At the end of the day, its simple physics rules. If his role when we have the ball is to roam very high up the pitch and very centrally then it's simply impossible for him to successfully make that run back to RB, catch the opposition's winger and win the ball back. If he does it 2 or 3 times, there's another 5 or 6 times he won't be able. Add to that the fact that other teams specifically come into the game with game-plans centered around the huge hole that will be left from him inverting and being so high up the pitch and its no surprise that we see what we see.

What I'm trying to say is that I can't blame TAA for not catching one of the quickest wingers in the league when his starting position when we lost the ball was the equivalent of a Left attacking midfielder or he was almost in the opposition's box. Keep in mind that opposition's winger starting position is considerably higher than it usually would be because his manager stationed him high up the pitch with the long ball to him being the first thing the other team looks for when they win the ball back from us.

I don't understand why he gets all the crap he gets for something so basic as simply physics. What people are expecting him to do defensively would require ''teleportation'' not sprinting.

Edit:

one small thing I forgot is that despite all that is said about TAA, it's been working this season. We have, at least until that game last Sunday, the best defensive record in the league and TAA is one of the best creative players in the league if not the best all season having made the difference between us losing/drawing and winning many times. I think it's important to put things in their context when we look at it. The way some speak after a performance where the opposition managed to successfully exploit the space he leaves open by inverting is almost like our season so far has been a flop because of that when, in fact, we lost 1 game (I don't count that Spurs sh*t), have the best defensive record in the league and score plenty because of the creativity he brings. Am I saying I want him to stay at RB? Nope. I'd much rather we find a way to permanently move him to midfield and play Bradley at RB, but yeah lets keep in mind TAA can't teleport.

I think saying he doesn't want to defend is a bit harsh. At the end of the day, its simple physics rules. If his role when we have the ball is to roam very high up the pitch and very centrally then it's simply impossible for him to successfully make that run back to RB, catch the opposition's winger and win the ball back. If he does it 2 or 3 times, there's another 5 or 6 times he won't be able. Add to that the fact that other teams specifically come into the game with game-plans centered around the huge hole that will be left from him inverting and being so high up the pitch and its no surprise that we see what we see.

What I'm trying to say is that I can't blame TAA for not catching one of the quickest wingers in the league when his starting position when we lost the ball was the equivalent of a Left attacking midfielder or he was almost in the opposition's box. Keep in mind that opposition's winger starting position is considerably higher than it usually would be because his manager stationed him high up the pitch with the long ball to him being the first thing the other team looks for when they win the ball back from us.

I don't understand why he gets all the crap he gets for something so basic as simply physics. What people are expecting him to do defensively would require ''teleportation'' not sprinting.

Edit:

one small thing I forgot is that despite all that is said about TAA, it's been working this season. We have, at least until that game last Sunday, the best defensive record in the league and TAA is one of the best creative players in the league if not the best all season having made the difference between us losing/drawing and winning many times. I think it's important to put things in their context when we look at it. The way some speak after a performance where the opposition managed to successfully exploit the space he leaves open by inverting is almost like our season so far has been a flop because of that when, in fact, we lost 1 game (I don't count that Spurs sh*t), have the best defensive record in the league and score plenty because of the creativity he brings. Am I saying I want him to stay at RB? Nope. I'd much rather we find a way to permanently move him to midfield and play Bradley at RB, but yeah lets keep in mind TAA can't teleport.

I'm not overly familiar with teleporting but I'm guessing your using it as an example of some kind of hyper speed?...If so, I'd suggest there's quite a gap between rapid hypersonic speed, and standing still...which is what TAA did far too often in the Arsenal match.
You are right that we should remember his unique qualities, he is usually a formidable asset to the team.
...The Spurs result was down to a regrettable own goal late in injury time....the injustices can't be proven to have affected the result.

I'm not overly familiar with teleporting but I'm guessing your using it as an example of some kind of hyper speed?...If so, I'd suggest there's quite a gap between rapid hypersonic speed, and standing still...which is what TAA did far too often in the Arsenal match.
You are right that we should remember his unique qualities, he is usually a formidable asset to the team.
...The Spurs result was down to a regrettable own goal late in injury time....the injustices can't be proven to have affected the result.

I won't disagree with you on him standing still during that game, but the thing is the whole team played a sh*t game where nobody pressed properly, everybody looked like they were sapped of their energy and Arsenal beat us for intensity in every department. I was talking more generally. He gets a lot of flack for not catching wingers who start their runs 30-40 yards away from where he is when we lose the ball. That's where my ''teleportation'' analogy came from. It's not fair nor is it logical to ask from any player, regardless of how fit they are, to do that for 90 minutes, it's not humanly possible.

My point is that we either play him in midfield and put a RB with RB-only roles in this position or stop asking him to play CAM when we have the ball and then turn around and ask ''where was he when the other team's LW was darting down that wing?''. It's illogical and I think that's why Klopp came out and said he doesn't mind the space he leaves behind. The other option would be to just stick him at RB with RB only roles which, at this point, would not be a very popular option with most people considering what we now know he can bring creatively speaking.

I won't disagree with you on him standing still during that game, but the thing is the whole team played a sh*t game where nobody pressed properly, everybody looked like they were sapped of their energy and Arsenal beat us for intensity in every department. I was talking more generally. He gets a lot of flack for not catching wingers who start their runs 30-40 yards away from where he is when we lose the ball. That's where my ''teleportation'' analogy came from. It's not fair nor is it logical to ask from any player, regardless of how fit they are, to do that for 90 minutes, it's not humanly possible.

My point is that we either play him in midfield and put a RB with RB-only roles in this position or stop asking him to play CAM when we have the ball and then turn around and ask ''where was he when the other team's LW was darting down that wing?''. It's illogical and I think that's why Klopp came out and said he doesn't mind the space he leaves behind. The other option would be to just stick him at RB with RB only roles which, at this point, would not be a very popular option with most people considering what we now know he can bring creatively speaking.

It's Illogical to stand still playing football.

It's Illogical to stand still playing football.

Alright mate. Trent bad. Trent do no sprint, us lose because Trent bad! Sell Trent, buy good player with money. Trent bad!!!

He's an unreal footballer.

But if he doesn't play RB he plays here

MacAllister

Trent            Jones

Or

Trent        Endo

Salah         MacAllister       Diaz

To be honest there's no 'perfect fit' for him without not using a lot of the midfield players we've bought this summer.

He's an unreal footballer.

But if he doesn't play RB he plays here

MacAllister

Trent            Jones

Or

Trent        Endo

Salah         MacAllister       Diaz

To be honest there's no 'perfect fit' for him without not using a lot of the midfield players we've bought this summer.

Stick him on the left wing instead of Lucho.

Constantly cuts in, knocks balls into the box for fun or has a pop himself. Doesn't have to do too much tracking back. Gets to link up with his best mate Robbo.

Or swap him and Mac round. I don't watch a lot of England but from memory, he played in the more advanced midfield role and was getting rave reviews for it.

But truthfully, I'd leave him as a right back because that's where he's played the majority of his 300 matches for this club. He just needs to buckle down and get his head into the defensive mode that it can be. There was a game against City (possibly the Champions League one) where he had Sterling in his pocket all game. He's also had other good defensive games. He can do it, it's just getting him to want to do it every single game.