Trent Alexander-Arnold is taking up different areas of the pitch since the arrival of Arne Slot
Alan Shearer has highlighted a tweak implemented by Arne Slot that is causing Trent Alexander-Arnold to play better for Liverpool this season. The club’s vice-captain proved a divisive player during the latter years of Jurgen Klopp‘s tenure as manager, mainly for the national media.
Alexander-Arnold, 26, is one of the conundrums Slot had to solve after taking over this summer. Aside from his contract situation, how the head coach would deploy the player had been a much-debated issue after Klopp used him as a midfielder last season.
His successor has not continued with that style of play; Alexander-Arnold is playing again as a more traditional right-back. Shearer has now spotted the tweak Slot has made.
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During a question-and-answer session with The Athletic, the former Premier League winner was asked whether the praise Slot is receiving for having the Reds top of the Champions League and Premier League has been excessive. Shearer gave that suggestion short shrift.
He said: “On the contrary, I think Slot has done brilliantly. Yes, Liverpool are a well-oiled machine with some very good players, but he’s added to it, he’s made them tougher defensively, and they’ve only lost one game. That doesn’t feel like a case of too much hype.
“Sometimes, new managers give their teams a bounce, but there have been enough occasions when influential long-term figures have gone and things have fallen apart. Intensity or identity can dip. That’s certainly something Liverpool would have been desperate to avoid when Jurgen Klopp left.”
After acknowledging he was lucky enough to be at Anfield co-commentating on the Reds’ win over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League when they ‘blew away’ Xabi Alonso‘s side in the second half, Shearer noted: “Slot has implemented a few interesting tweaks.
“You’re not seeing Trent Alexander-Arnold going into midfield as much as he used to, and he’s defending better as a consequence.” However, he also cautioned that if the club’s ‘excellent’ centre-halves, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, suffered an injury, that could be concerning.
Shearer named all of Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai to make the point that Liverpool have great options in midfield. That depth extends up front for the pundit, who added: “And they’re without one of their best players in Alisson at the moment,” before concluding: “So they’re really strong.”
