It was the debate that took up a hefty chunk of last night’s Monday Night Football. Trent Alexander-Arnold. Jurgen Klopp has repeatedly and fiercely defended his right-back but after a four-point lesson on ‘defending 101’ in the studio, the Englishman took to the European stage in a 2-0 win over Rangers, to remind everybody what he is all about.
Let’s be clear. His defending is still iffy and he wasn’t tested tonight, but instead allowed to steal the limelight in the only way he knows how. After Darwin Nunez won a free-kick on the edge of the area and up stepped Alexander-Arnold to whip it perfectly into the top corner. It was mesmeric. It was stupendous. It was Trent.
Neville said last night: “If he can just work on those four basic things and get those consistency elements with those things, we won’t just have one of the best attacking right-backs this country has ever produced, we’ll probably have the best right-back the world has ever produced, because this is a Cafu, this is that level of full-back, this is something unbelievably special.”
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Anfield got to witness more of that special ability but again, it was in a game where his defensive work was never really tested. With all due respect to Rangers, they are a weak team at this level. Jurgen Klopp knew that too. It was the reason he started with an aggressive front four made up of Nunez, Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz.
His midfield hasn’t offered enough protection in the league and certainly at home, perhaps this is the solution the German manager has been looking for. There were plenty of chances wasted as Allan McGregor had an outstanding game in the Rangers goal. Nunez yet again couldn’t find his goalscoring touch as time after time he was denied, while Salah and Diaz also spurned good opportunities.
Half-time came and went and the Gers were still in contention, however just seven minutes into the second half Luis Diaz weaved his way into the box and was brought down by a clumsy tackle by John Lundstram. Perhaps Salah needed a penalty to start a scoring run and he made no mistake from the spot as he fired it down the middle to double Liverpool’s lead.
McGregor made another superb stop from a Jota piledriver and the 40-year-old proved his credentials once again as front runner for that number one shirt. But this was complete dominance from a Liverpool team that were just streets ahead of their Scottish counterparts. Only McGregor kept the scoreline down, while James Milner got on to make his 300th appearance for the Reds.
Another positive of this slightly more attacking system was the way Jordan Henderson and Thiago controlled the midfield in a two, without the protection of Fabinho. This option to get another forward player on the pitch will be tempting for Klopp as we move into a busy period of Premier League and Champions League action.
But the debate around Trent will continue to rear its head every time he does anything on a football pitch - good or bad. Gareth Southgate will be watching on with slight interest, but there is a long way to go before he makes an England starting XI at a major tournament.
Against teams like Rangers, on a night when Liverpool had 68% possession, 17 shots to two and didn’t concede a single effort on target, it is a fun job to play as an attacking right-back. Against the big teams, running the other way, it isn’t quite as fun. The bigger tests are still to come, but for now, let’s just enjoy what this magician can do on the ball, rather than off it. To see a right-back do what he can do, is quite something.
