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How do you solve a problem like Trent Alexander-Arnold? It is a question that has puzzled Liverpool fans, their manager Jurgen Klopp and to a lesser extent England boss Gareth Southgate.
I say to a lesser extent with Gareth Southgate because he has never shown any real interest in getting the best out of the mercurial talents of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Southgate and England have been blessed with a plethora of world-class talent at right back in the form of Kyle Walker, Reece James, and Kieran Trippier, which goes a long way to explaining why Alexander-Arnold only has 18 caps for his country despite making his debut in 2018.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold's quality never in doubt
Trent Alexander-Arnold's quality as a player has never been in doubt. Quite simply he is an extraordinary footballer.
Since making his Liverpool debut he has won almost every title available: Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Club. The 24-year-old has also played in two other UEFA Champions League finals, where he finished as the runner-up
The Englishman has rarely missed a match during that time, racking up 268 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 15 goals and claiming a staggering 71 assists.
However, there can also be no doubt that he has looked increasingly uncomfortable for Liverpool defensively. One area where he has looked particularly weak is the awareness of the players around him.
Time and again Alexander-Arnold has allowed the winger he was supposed to be marking to slip behind him and score an easy goal. Nowhere was this more evident than in the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, where he lost track of Vinicius Jr, which allowed the Brazilian to convert a simple tap-in at the back post.
What Alexander-Arnold has lacked at club level, which hasn't been the case for England, has been competition for his place. Since breaking into the Liverpool first team, perhaps the most notable challenge he had for his position came from Neco Williams, who only made 33 appearances for the club before being sold to Nottingham Forest.
It is only natural that if a player is lacking competition for their place, their level of performance may dip. While Gareth Southgate doesn't have to be unduly bothered by his form given the other options available to him in the national team, that is not a luxury afforded to Jurgen Klopp.
The German head coach, however, also has one thing that Southgate doesn't — time on the training pitch with Alexander-Arnold. They work together almost every day and the best managers get the best out of the players they have available.
Trent Alexander-Arnold given freedom to roam
In recent weeks Jurgen Klopp has finally come to the conclusion that playing as a traditional right-back is simply no longer working for Trent Alexander-Arnold, or Liverpool, who have been poor defensively by their own high standards.
A tactical tweak from Klopp has seen Alexander-Arnold move into a more attacking role — by becoming an inverted full-back. This has not just compensated for his weaknesses but also made the most of his brilliant talent going forward.
Pep Guardiola has used inverted full-backs to great effect in his career. Most recently, John Stones has performed that role to great effect for Manchester City, while Oleksandr Zinchenko has played a similar role on the opposite flank for Arsenal.
Essentially, when Liverpool are out of possession, Alexander-Arnold is a traditional right-back. However, when they have the ball, he moves infield to support the team's defensive midfielder and Liverpool switch to a back three.
Since the change in role, Alexander-Arnold is averaging 13 more touches a game, rising from 95 to 108. More time on the ball has also led to increased productivity.
After Liverpool were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester City, Alexander-Arnold was dropped for the following game against Chelsea which finished 0-0. At that stage of the season, he had only claimed two assists in the league.
However, he found himself back in the team, in his new role, in their next league fixture against Arsenal and he hasn't looked back, picking up six assists in his last five Premier League appearances. His return to form has also coincided with an improvement in Liverpool's results, who have won their last four league games and kept alive their hopes of clinching European football.
The upturn in fortunes for Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool might also have given Gareth Southgate food for thought. Despite all the progress England have made under his management, they have still yet to win a major tournament. Getting a quality player like Alexander-Arnold into his first team could make a huge difference to the team's fortunes.
How do you solve a problem like Trent Alexander-Arnold? Jurgen Klopp might well have found the answer, one which could benefit both Liverpool and England for years to come.
