Trent Alexander-Arnold’s season, which had the potential to be disastrous, finished with Liverpool giving him a fresh lease of life in a fascinating role.
The right-back’s 2021–2022 season came to a disappointing end because he did not receive praise for Vinicius Jr.’s Champions League-winning goal in Paris.
Even yet, it had been a season to remember because he continued to demonstrate why he is Europe’s most distinctive full-back.
There was never any doubt that Alexander-Arnold’s 2022–2023 campaign would be a success, but what came next turned out to be a crazy and unpredictable ride.
The first time they played Fulham away in August, Alexander-Arnold showed hints that he wasn’t at his best when he missed Aleksandar Mitrovic ghosting in at the back post and enabled him to score with a header.
Both the player and Liverpool as a whole gave a dismal performance that was representative of the most of the season.
Too often, Alexander-Arnold performed appallingly below the standard we had come to expect from him since 2018, with Jadon Sancho’s goal in the 2-1 loss away to Man United appearing to be the product of utter indifference.
While his ‘bad’ defensive performance has previously been sloppily criticized, some of the body language he was using felt perplexing at times, and this time there was every reason to berate it.
Amid a host of top players performing badly, Alexander-Arnold possibly stood out as the worst of the lot, even if there were moments of predictable class thrown in.
Granted, the 24-year-old wasn’t being helped by a team that was falling apart, being given so little protection by an ailing midfield, but his all-round game was still lacking.
A World Cup call-up came as a boost for him, but it only realistically arrived because of an injury to Reece James and he played just 33 minutes of football in Qatar.
By the end of April, Alexander-Arnold had only contributed two assists in the Premier League, which was unimpressive for a player of his caliber and gave the impression that he was in severe need of the summer.
Then, after using their tactical wizardry, Jurgen Klopp and his team realized there might be a chance to save the Scousers’ season.
It’s a choice that might end up being brilliant.
Klopp had the freedom to experiment in the latter half of the season because Real had eliminated Liverpool from Europe and a top-four finish in the league appeared unlikely.
Some had suggested Alexander-Arnold switch to the position of central midfielder due to his poor performance for the majority of the season.
Instead, Klopp adopted a tactic that has been used by Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta with the likes of John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko, allowing Trent to drift into midfield from his right-back position.
While out of possession he remained fairly disciplined – permanently having nobody at right-back isn’t going to end well – on the ball he vacated that area, allowing others to fill in.
What we witnessed in the final six weeks of the season was an outrageously talented footballer purring again, looking so at home in a hybrid position.
There is no question that major reinforcements are going to be made to Liverpool’s midfield this summer, with Alexis Mac Allister, Manu Kone and Khephren Thuram all considered targets.
Assuming the Reds nail their transfer business in that area, there is every chance that they could be title challengers again in 2023/24.
But what does Klopp do with Alexander-Arnold?
There are some who want him in midfield permanently, but there seems no sense in that, considering the incomings and the manner in which he has excelled in his tweaked role.
Despite his strong send-off, this was still a season to forget for Alexander-Arnold overall – one that was truly dismal at one point – but there shouldn’t be concerns about him in the long-term.
He will always be overly criticised compared to others – James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier all have faults of their own and don’t possess close to the same level of technical ability – but Liverpool know his vast worth.
At 24, Alexander-Arnold is still young, and his defensive work can clearly improve, but he should return from his summer holiday re-energised and looking to return to peak form.
Retaining him as a roaming right-back-cum-midfielder has to be the plan, with the extra legs added to the midfield helping negate the issue of him leaving his post at right-back.
Trent 2.0 is upon us.
