Jamie Carragher believes that Jurgen Klopp is close to playing Trent Alexander-Arnold as a midfielder.
Throughout his career, there have been plenty of calls for Trent to revert to the position he joined the club as. But so far, it isn’t something Klopp has ever considered doing.
Pressure is now building though, with his No.66 regularly getting caught out defensively. As a result, Reds legend Carragher has claimed that Klopp adjusting his right-back’s position is now inevitable.
Carragher leads the calls for midfield Trent
Recalling a similar episode of his own career, Carragher used his column in The Telegraph to outline exactly why Trent should be moved.
“In terms of his passing range, Alexander-Arnold is as good as anyone in Europe and the closest Liverpool have to Kevin De Bruyne or Steven Gerrard,” said the 44-year-old.
“Given how desperate Liverpool are for a creative midfielder, would turning him into a No 8 so he can fill those areas to whip those extraordinary passes into the penalty area be such a radical move? With Stefan Bajcetic out for the season, would Klopp even consider it as an immediate measure?
“I am convinced Alexander-Arnold will return to midfield eventually, whether it is in his late twenties or early thirties. It does not matter how many medals a player has won, the best will always be looking at ways to get better. Until then, he needs more competition for his place and guidance to eradicate mistakes to stop him being targeted and exposed.”
Nothing to lose for Jurgen
Up until this point of his career, we’ve always been averse to this point of view. Why would you change a player who is hitting such heights in his existing role?
But now, with performances clearly below-par, the question deserves to be asked. Not only is Trent struggling, but Liverpool also blatantly need improvement in the midfield.
At the very least, you’d think it would be worth a go for Klopp. It’s easy to imagine Alexander-Arnold wreaking havoc without quite as much defensive responsiblity.
In the immediate future it does beg the question who will play at right-back. But although he’s had a poor season in the middle, Joe Gomez usually looks fine filling that role. Klopp may as well try it out. If Trent does well, it may be one less midfielder we need to buy come the summer. We would need a new right-back, mind…