Jurgen Klopp on Trent Alexander-Arnold Position

Jurgen Klopp has revealed that while playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in a more central position “suits him really well”, nothing is “written in stone”. Over the last two matches, Alexander-Arnold has been seen drifting inside more often, rather than sticking to the touchline. Klopp admitted that the 24-year-old has the potential to play in this position, as the stats back up his claim. Alexander-Arnold made more successful passes (124) against Leeds than in any other game during his career, and also had the second-highest number of touches for a Premier League player in a game this season (153). Klopp said that although Alexander-Arnold played “really well”, it was still “a challenge for everyone else to cover the spaces”. He added that they only had “a week” to work on the tweak and that the role is “slightly different, but not massively to others where Trent wasn’t always right-back”. Fabinho, Alexander-Arnold’s teammate, has also been enthused by the full-back’s new role, which has seen the pair sit alongside each other in front of Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk and Andy Robertson. Fabinho said that “Trent is somebody really good on the ball, with his quality of pass and finding players in behind. We can really use this” and added that “in this position, of course, he will have less time to think but I think he’s a little bit used to being in this position.” Klopp concluded that Alexander-Arnold’s new role is “not the solution for all the football problems this year but he has the potential to play there, that’s clear” and that “it’s absolutely fine, we’ll see where it leads to.”