Trent ALEXANDER-ARNOLD: 2022/23

He wasn’t further up the pitch though. He was in the box, just a few yards from the unmarked player who would ultimately get the ball, stand on it for seconds and then scored. There is no system that tells a defender to ignore a player a couple of yards from you who looks primed to score if the ball finds him.

Trent’s issue, like so many of our players, is mentally responding too slowly, which is difficult to see as anything other than a fatigue/burn out issue.

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I don’t disagree with the mentally responding too slowly, but my speculation was more about the other situations in which he’s been labelled as too slow to track back.

My argument with regards to that goal was covered in the first paragraph, that essentially it’s not his space to cover, and that there was already someone else (Fabinho?) in a better position to cover, who just didn’t manage to block it well enough.

Anyone remember the replies to the rumours that RealMadrid were buying Trent?

You all still want him dropped?? Love the kid!

Love him even more when he smiles…it looks like he’s enjoying his game…

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He has been criticised before and done the same thing. Just do the same at weekend Trent.

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FIFY :sunglasses:

Take away the exceptional free kick tonight because we all know he’s capable of that, once I saw him on the team sheet I was keeping a close eye on him to see if he’d make any adjustments defensively.

So much better & it does help having Hendo on that side with him.

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Seemed in position throughout not once until the changes late on it did it look a bit more dicey even then it wasn’t him.

I don’t think anyone will be left behind if we proceed with that and I think it’s a positive, you wonder if that was the reinvention or that this was always in our dynamics but like Williams and Phillips it took time to fully get it right to launch it.

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I’d like to see him get a bit more cover and simplify what he has to do on the pitch. He shouldn’t be popping up at CF so regularly in my opinion and if he wasn’t trying to cover 80+ yards of space all the time then he wouldn’t be so exposed. He’s more than athletic enough to be the best at getting up and down the right flank in world football but he’s also dropping into midfield and getting beyond the striker, it’s just way too much for one man to do.

Reece James is a tremendous player but he’s not as talented as Alexander-Arnold. What he does have over Trent is a very clear simple game plan - get down the right and whip the ball to the back post. It’s what Trent originally shone at and it’s what I’d like him to go back to.

Additionally it would be churlish to deny he’s lacked attention defensively over the last two seasons. He’s been caught ball-watching or walking too many times. However, I don’t think that’s who he is as a player, I think he is sometimes confused about what his job is when he seems to play such a free role.

Instead of trying to be Cafu and Gerrard with a bit of De Bruyne thrown in there let’s just focus on being Cafu again.

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If Trent is facing a spell on the sidelines, I wouldn’t be adverse to him using that time to study the Central Midfield position.

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In all my time watching football I’ve never seen a player targeted so successfully by the opposition as Trent has been.
Sure, all teams have a perceived weakness the opposition will try to exploit and occasionally it will pay off but with Trent it’s every fucking game, that pass either inside him or out and the rest is history.
Maybe he’s been left exposed on occasion but enough is enough, I’ve reached a point where I never want to see him at RB again.

He won’t be transitioning to midfield and neither should he. Despite his issues, he has been part of a backline that has been amongst the best in Europe for years and when he’s on song he’s truly special.

What he needs is time to clear his head. He isn’t the single cause of all our problems, just the most debated one.

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Get someone with pace and stamina to cover TAA and I think we will be fine.

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Or just get someone that can defend?

Martinelli didn’t get anything out of Trent the previous time we played Arsenal on 16 March 2022.

Edited for clarity that wasn’t necessary. :roll_eyes: