Analysing Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Role Under Arne Slot & Where He’s Had The Most Impact This Season

Written on 22/10/2024

Much was made about how Trent Alexander-Arnold would be utilised when Arne Slot took over the Liverpool job. In the last 18 months until the end of last season, the England international was predominantly used as a right-back who inverts into midfield when the team was in safe possession. This was a clear change from when he used to bomb up and down the field, almost playing as a wing-back supporting Mohamed Salah on the right-hand side of the Liverpool attack.

The other part of Slot's job was to look at how to improve that area of the field defensively. Alexander-Arnold, although can be inconsistent off the ball, isn’t as bad at one-v-one defending as people make out (especially the pundits from Manchester). It is just that he was used more as an attacking outlet under Jurgen Klopp with a trade-off that the team would concede chances with balls in behind on that side.

The focus of this article will be on analysing the 26-year-old’s role and performance so far this season, and how Slot has instilled a bit more balance to where the right-back is impacting games.

Tactical Changes

Below, we have a few in-game snaps looking at how Alexander-Arnold is positioned when the team has possession and how it is bringing balance to his game.

The action depicted in the image is something we have seen under Slot a lot this season. Both the fullbacks are narrow and close to the centre-backs as they build from the back. There is a willingness to play short passes at the back before going long or threading one through the midfield. Under Klopp, at least one, if not both the fullbacks would have been flying up the field with the centre-backs spreading the pitch and the goalkeeper in between them.

This image is quite similar to the previous looking at how Alexander-Arnold is not jumping into the midfield when the team has steady possession at the back. With a midfield pivot staying together, there are enough players in that zone to receive the ball from the centre-backs, hence the right-back stays in his natural position.

As the play progresses, Alexander-Arnold takes up his usual position high and wide to stretch the game. The difference from the previous regime is that the 26-year-old only made that run once the back-line pushed up 20 yards from the box with the ball. As I said before, there is more balance to the way fullbacks attack under Slot. As a reference point, left-back Kostas Tsimikas has still not crossed the half-way line yet.

With Salah hugging the touchline, Alexander-Arnold’s role here changed from overlapping to staying close to the defence and midfield. He won’t invert into midfield (situationally he has a few times but not by design) but stays close to it to become an option before the ball is spread wide to the forwards. 

Alexander-Arnold: 2024/25 Stats

This section contains a couple of dashboards looking at Alexander-Arnold’s numbers this season so far and how it is looking when matched up against Premier League defenders. Only league numbers are included here.

For a player who has averaged a minimum of six final third passes per 90 until last season, the 26-year-old is going at under four this time around. He is still able to play the key passes and through balls though. Just goes to show that while chance-creation hasn’t come down, there is an emphasis on the right-back waiting for the opportunities to make those passes. For example, he is making 39% of his passes short, a number which wasn’t even close to 30% under Klopp (longer passes to bypass the opposition press).