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Why should Trent change what isn’t broken?

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool

Trent Alexander-Arnold has set records, hoisted trophies and helped record historic wins for his boyhood side, so why would he look to make a change?

Having grown up in West Derby, just a stone’s throw from Melwood, it was inevitable that Trent Alexander-Arnold would become anything but a Liverpool fanatic.

By the tender age of six, Trent was already enrolled in the club’s academy. It was after catching the eye at a training camp, that his mother was approached by an onlooking coach. From that moment on, the young prospect would return as often as possible in an attempt to hone his talent.

A marauding presence in midfield and, like most kids, wherever the ball went, Trent has come a long way since his academy days. Now crucial to both club and country as well as having achieved European glory last year, the established defender hasn’t looked back.

Though more recently, others have suggested he look forward – namely, to midfield.

At just 21, Trent holds the official Guiness World Record for the most English Premier League assists by a defender in a single season. The number to reach this record was an impressive 12, a sum he has already matched this campaign with seven games remaining.

Boasting such attacking prowess, shouts for progression to a more dictatorial role in the centre of the pitch were always likely. It wouldn’t be a position unknown to the reds’ number 66 either.

Until his promotion to the starting 11, Trent was a feature of the academy midfield for roughly 10 years. It was here that his ability to whip a ball into the box, slice through defences with a neat pass or take on an effort from distance were all developed.

Once in the first team, it didn’t take long for Trent’s standout play-making performances to become subject to comparison with those of former Liverpool attacker, Phillipe Coutinho. For a period following Barcelona’s costly acquisition of the Brazilian with an eye for a pass, Liverpool were touted to see issues down the line when it came to breaking down deep-sitting sides.

Philipe Coutinho, Barcelona

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However, none could have predicted just how instrumental Alexander-Arnold would become in filling this void. Nor that we would witness a seesaw effect, as Coutinho’s stock fell and Trent’s rose.

The lifelong red has truly stepped up as Jurgen Klopp’s play-maker, and has the stats to prove it:

 

Despite his creativity and ability to forge match-winning moments, one aspect of the player’s game has divided opinion – his defending.

It sounds ironic that, as a defender, your ability to live up to the very name of your role would be so called into question. Yet, it would be a lie to say that the full-back hasn’t struggled on occasion.

And yes, while it’s true that Trent has also registered sound performances on the biggest of stages, the defensive aspect of his play has been found wanting at times.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool

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The calls for a move up the pitch where the Scouser can further play to his strengths, rather than have his weaknesses exposed, had only grown in the months before the suspension of the league.

But why would Trent compromise the very nature of his game when his contributions have so directly steered his side to recent successes. Perhaps instead, it’s not he that must change, but the very definition of his role.

The term ‘defender’ has become archaic, especially in a Klopp side where positions are fluid and unfixed.

The Liverpool man shouldn’t be held to the constraints of others when, after all, he does so much more.

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