Trent at right back worked because we had peak Jordan covering his runs. He could be the creative force knowing that Hendo would have his back.
Jurgen has shown absolutely no inclination to replace his workhorse midfield. Every single midfielder he has brought in since signing Fabinho has been a more flair creative type.
The other factor was that the team as a whole provided suffocating pressure that made it near impossible for the opposition to get out of their own third. That meant not only was Trent less concerned about the threat of his advanced position being exposed once we lost the ball, but his position was essential for maintaining that pressure. These days teams are finding it relatively easy to play through the pressure. I think it was the Palace game after Hendo came on where we started applying a ton of pressure that was the only time this season weāve had that characteristic team wise positional pressure exerted for any period of time.
Look at Arsenalās winner. Ignore the terribleness of the decision on the penalty and look at how many players Arsenal have in within 3 yards of our box. I counted 7 at one point. Thatās why we were unable to clear it properly and why they eventually forced us into a mistake (albeit facilitated by a bad decision from the ref).
I expect that to change. At least I hope it will. We are so lacking in athletisism with the current available players that every team that we come across instantly gains a significant advantage.
Last time we played Arsenal was 24 hours ago.
Donāt be obtuse.
The point is that what weāre seeing is not simply the player that Trent is.
& thatās fine, however I choose to see what we are seeing, not what weāre not seeing.
Which is a defender thatās badly exposed on near enough every goal we concede.
Some ridiculous catastrophising here. Simply untrue that Trentās positioning is the cause of ānear enough every goalā. Yes heās out of form but heās not the only one. VVD and Fab are shadows of their former selves and responsible for as many goals as TAA this season
I have a friend whose nephew is a pro footballer in a lower league team but has a connection at Kirkby and he is hearing that Trent is not the most popular player in the dressing room. Being a bit too cockyā¦
Guess he will be taken down a notch or two once Ramsay is fit.
Sounds legit 
Expanding on what both of you have said, I think a lot of the issues start at the front. It is obvious the secondary benefit of counter-pressing and the way we defend from the front - apart from winning the ball back early to catch the opposition out during a transition - is that it affords a great deal of time for our defenders. Its what allows us to push our FBs up so high so often. Beyond straight up counter-pressing, when we donāt have the ball we have been very good at directing the opposition into areas of the pitch we want them in by cutting off passing lanes, thus slowing down their attacks to give our FBs time to get back.
The forwards and midfielders are nowhere near cohesive enough. I donāt want this to look like a rant at our young forwards but we have a few new guys and we really need to improve the communication and have them move together as a unit. The lack of confidence means players really arenāt making good decisions so its difficult to get that cohesion back. The new formation is a hot mess (structure is far too flat when we have the ball), and both Thiago and Henderson have to do much better than they did against Arsenal if the system is to work, but I want to see an improvement on how the front 6 operate together as that is the crux of the issue for me.
Thatās why Thiago actually gave him a heart to heart type hug when he came off against Rangers.
He thinks he is such a cocky bastard.
Well you do get to hear stuff when you live in Liverpool that isnāt necessarily reportedā¦or widely knownā¦
We tend to be very loyal to current players and can see no wrong in them but once they leave for another club or embrace punditry, they become fair gameā¦
OK, so he isnāt injured, right?
No, just cocky. Apparently.
Injured or not it would be good to get him out of the firing line for a while. Brutally bad yesterday for sure but heās being scapegoated for our wider failings and it must be doing his head in. Weāve messed about with his role so much that he now seems to have no idea whatās expected of him.
Our forwards dont press like they used to.
Our mids arenāt as workman like covering Trent on his runs forward. All true.
He is also world class on the attacking end for his position.
But Trent is an average defender. With average defensive awareness of whats going on around him. Vincinus jr goal in the CL final says it all.
Trent has improved dramatically in his 1-1 defending, and I think it was the game against Arsenal last year where he had a real ding dong battle with Martinelli that really demonstrated it. Where he has come unstuck a lot is being beaten without the ball, which is more about vision, quick recognition of danger, and decision making. Thatās where he came unstuck yesterday, and one of my concerns is he is taking so much abuse, which can really fuck with your thought process.
For me, one of his best defensive displays in our shirt in a top level match was in the FA Cup final last season. He was fantastic. Before Paris, I said that he needs to look at that performance, as we prepared to face Realās little Benzema & Vinicius link up (perhaps Realās main in behind threat on the day) in their left and our right side channel. He can defend (rival fans and media often exaggerate this by saying the opposite), but he has defensive issues in certain aspects. Itās not yesterdayās news. Also, not a good start to the season (and also not the only one), no point trying to mask that ether.
This article is from before the Arses game, but itās a good analysis
Yes, we were being targeted down that side, and yes a lot of players have been off form. But there are some mitigating factors that even despite our poor form, the opposition have been performing above thier station in things like shooting:
Then thereās how well their opponents are shooting. Last season, Liverpool allowed 1.0 xG per game, but the quality of their opponentsā shot placement turned that into 0.7 xG per game based on Stats Performās post-shot model. This year, theyāre allowing 1.2 xG per game, which is the highest of the Klopp era, but doesnāt suggest as much of a decline as weāve seen. However, opponents have turned that 1.2 xG into 1.5 post-shot xG with their placement.
Also a good systemic categorization used to try to analyse whether TAA has regressed defensively or if itās a combination of factors. Also the stats this season discussed in the article shows up that TAA is being used in a different way (as the eye test will agree):
This season, however, he has zero assists from just 0.7 expected assists. On a per-90 basis, heās dropped from 0.35 xA last season to 0.12 this season. Instead, heās upped his progressive-passing rate (10.5 per 90, from 8.8) and is more involved with moving the ball into the final third ā from 7.3 passes into the final third to 8.3. However, heās also second in the league in passes into the penalty area and first in the league in crosses into the penalty ā both at increased rates from last season.