Trent Alexander-Arnold has been heavily criticized for this defending ability since he broke through the Liverpool first team. Despite his clear talent going forward pundits and rival fans love pointing out the flaws in his game which, in my opinion, is totally unfair.
We have not seen a player from Liverpool’s academy, let alone an English international, with the talent of Trent who can pick out any pass he pleases with ease. The last great Liverpool academy product is obviously legend Steven Gerrard and the England squad hasn’t had a proper playmaker since the Frank Lampard, Gerrard, David Beckham days.
Argue with a piece of Big League Chew if you think there has been a better passer of the ball for England since Gerrard, Lampard or Becks. I’m talking regular England internationals so I’m not including James Ward-Prowse.
Trent is a generational talent. I said it. He is generational. At 24 years-old he’s already completed English football having won every major honor possible, he has recorded over 50 Premier League Assists, has been a mainstay in the Liverpool first team since he was 19.
And yet England Manager Gareth Southgate loves to leave him out of international squads.
Sure, there have been stints where Chelsea’s Reece James, Manchester City’s Kyle Walker and Newcastle’s Kieran Trippier have been in better form. But you can’t overlook the natural talent and ability that Trent has if you are the manager of England.
Form is temporary, class is permanent.
Now that Trent is finally getting another shot at international football after adopting a new role in midfield for Liverpool, he has the opportunity to prove all his doubters wrong. Including Southgate.
Trent was given his opportunity in midfield on Friday as England faced Malta in a UEFA Euro’s qualifier match and boy did he show out. Not only did he score the lone goal from open play–a 25 yard screamer by the way– he practically carried the squad to their 4-0 routing of Malta.
According to Sofascore player ratings, Trent played an 8.3/10 while the rest of the squad recorded a rating in the 7-7.6 realm. Trent had a passer rating of 88% as he completed 56 of 64 passes with three key passes, won seven of 10 ground duels with two tackles and as mentioned earlier, scored the only goal from open play.
He was calm on the ball, picked out all his passes with ease and really just looked so natural in that position.
This England squad is full of world-class talent, especially up top with the likes of Harry Kane, Marcus Rashford and Bukayo Saka. With such firing power though, they never really had someone who can deliver the ball to them as well as Trent can.
I can assure you Saka has never received a better ball for England than the one Trent put over the top for him in the build up for the opening goal.
Following the match, Southgate praised his new number 10 after his boss performance.
“I’ve got no questions in my head whether he can do it, it’s learning certain nuances of the role, without the ball especially, but he’s very keen to do it, he’s enjoyed the project,” Southgate said. “We talked about it four weeks ago on the phone and he’s been excited by it and he’s shown exactly what he’s capable of and he gives us something to our other midfielders.”
Given this seems to be the role that Southgate wants Trent to have for England long term, he’s is only going to get better at it as he gets more games under his belt.
After seeing what Trent is capable of in midfield, it now raises the question whether Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp will deploy him in the middle next season. We’ve already seen the inverted right back role where Trent plays through the middle on the attack with Ibrahima Konate covering for him defensively, but we’re yet to see him outright in the midfield.
With Liverpool in a bit of a rebuilding stage at the minute, with the midfield needing the most attention, some may raise the proposal of Trent taking over the right center mid role for skipper Jordan Henderson.
While I’m not entirely opposed to Trent playing in midfield as a Liverpool fan, I still think for club he’s best suited for the right back position as he’s revolutionized it and made it his own over the last four or five seasons.
I think he’ll have to prove he can do it against better teams, but ultimately I have no doubt he can play just as well–if not better-in midfield.
Photo Credits: Courtesy of England Football National Team.
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