Gary Neville believes Trent Alexander-Arnold has four very basic things he must master. The Liverpool full-back has holes in his game.
Gary Neville went in-depth on Trent Alexander-Arnold for Monday Night Football – something he says he’s wanted to do for a while. The Scouser has come under fire recently, with his defending looking particularly shaky as Liverpool struggle for wins.
Though, that’s not the only frustration. Alexander-Arnold also isn’t contributing as he usually does going forward – in other words, he’s out of form.
But Neville believes his problems go a little deeper than that. The right-back can’t rely on his defence to keep Liverpool out of trouble and his main issue is with ‘basic’ principles.
“What surprises me still sometimes when I watch him, are three or four of the very basic things of full-back play,” said Neville. “There are lots of things – communicating, determination, aggression in your game, winning the ball back – all of those things are basic nuances of defending.
“But there are four basic things that I think I was taught.”
Basic things Trent Alexander-Arnold can master
Neville explained that things like determination, you either have or you don’t. But there are four things Alexander-Arnold can master in order to become a solid defender.
- In transition, sprint back.
- In one-on-one defending, keep body position low/crouched.
- Body shape should be open when ball is on opposite side of the pitch
- Rotate head when defending back post & check distances
You can watch the clip here – Neville is incredibly passionate about full-back play, given he devoted his career to it. And for what it’s worth, he’s a massive fan of Alexander-Arnold.
In fact, he believes that should the 23-year-old master all of this, he could become the best right-back of all time. That’s the level we’re talking about here.
And given everything Alexander-Arnold has already accomplished, it’s tough to disagree.
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