- 5/28/2025
Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool for Real Madrid... everyone seems to think. The right-back's contract expires in the summer and, after months of speculation, it looks like he's trading in nearly a decade on Merseyside for the Santiago Bernabéu. But in amongst all the outrage, nobody seems to have asked... what does this mean for Liverpool on the field? Adam Clery looks at exactly what it is Alexander-Arnold does, and how Liverpool can cope without it.
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00:00Right, hello there everybody, Adam Cleary, AC, FC and Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool, I think.
00:09Like, I've seen loads of mock-ups of him in a Madrid kit and people are sort of talking like he's already left,
00:14even though he hasn't, but everyone's pretty confident about the whole thing, so let's just assume he is.
00:19And opinion feels, like, pretty split down the middle on this.
00:23Like, to some, he's been a tremendous servant of the club, who's won everything for them,
00:27and now, after nine years, he's going to the only club in the world where he could realistically achieve more,
00:32so, like, fair play.
00:34But, to others, he is a...
00:43Just, like, in his own hand on Snapchat.
00:47But, yeah, both sides, I think, make compelling arguments.
00:52Anyway, though, you can make your own mind up about all of that.
00:54We are here today to look at what impact, if any, this has on Liverpool Football Club.
01:01Is it a catastrophe? Is it not actually that much of a big deal?
01:04I have some considerable, considerable thoughts.
01:12So, first off, yes, super quick, ACFC, brand new channel.
01:15Thank you so much for joining us.
01:17This will change, and this will change, and it'll be a lot slicker and a lot sexier.
01:21But, yet, somehow, that's insane.
01:24I genuinely hyperventilated when I hit 25,000 subs over the weekend.
01:28So, thank you for your patience, and thank you for all of that.
01:32But, content.
01:33Liverpool fans, you will probably be aware of most of this already,
01:36but just as a refresher, or just in case you've not seen too much of them this season,
01:39Slott has used Alexander-Arnold exceptionally, exceptionally well this season.
01:44But, if you go all the way back to when he first broke into Jürgen Klopp's ultra-high,
01:50Jürgen-pressing, boom, heavy metal 4-3-3,
01:53the way he was used there was as a sort of, like, David Beckham-style width and deliveries
01:59from the right-hand side, and then as a key part of their high press.
02:05This was his heat map from that entire first season, I think 17-18, when he broke in.
02:09You can see everything's pretty much down this right-hand side,
02:13but it tails right the way off as it gets into the final third.
02:17He does not attack the byline, he does not look to get round on the overlap.
02:21He likes to actually sit more in this pocket here,
02:24which is where, if you remember David Beckham,
02:25that's where a lot of his best deliveries came from.
02:28Alexander-Arnold was a revelation in this part of the pitch
02:31for creating chances for the players in the middle.
02:34But then, of course, as time moved on and teams found ways
02:37to counter this sort of high-pressing philosophy,
02:40Klopp decided Liverpool needed to be better at controlling games of football,
02:44to have higher possession, to be a little bit slower,
02:46to be a bit more, that's the word I want, boring.
02:49And the main thing he tried was making Trent Alexander-Arnold
02:52one of these inverted full-backs that were all the rage,
02:55like, two or three seasons ago.
02:57He would move infield from the right-back position,
03:00then shuffle around, and you get this box midfield
03:03designed to help you control games of football,
03:05because, as you know, most teams only have three lads in there.
03:09I've dropped them very messily.
03:10So you've got four, you're going to be able to play around them.
03:13And if you take his heat map from when he first broke into the team,
03:15and we slowly, so you get a picture of it,
03:17morph it into his heat map from last season,
03:20you'll see it's quite a dramatic change,
03:22spending a lot less time in this part of the pitch,
03:23and loads more in this central area.
03:27But crucially, and the reason I said it was kind of a little bit boring,
03:31is because all the stuff in the middle,
03:33there's way more of it in the defensive third,
03:35when they're building up slowly,
03:37than there is in the attacking third,
03:39when they're being sexy and fun and dangerous.
03:41And this, in my opinion anyway,
03:44did work to an extent,
03:46like, Liverpool did feel better on the ball,
03:48like, they controlled games,
03:49and they weren't getting, like, played through in these exciting,
03:52like, quasi-basketball situations,
03:55but they finished fifth the first year,
03:57they tried it,
03:57then, like, third the second.
03:59So it was good, but it didn't improve them.
04:02But, if you would allow me to grossly oversimplify it,
04:06while it wasn't very good for Liverpool,
04:08I do think it was good for Trent Alexander-Arnold,
04:12because there's so few players in the world
04:14who can actually do this.
04:15It made him look like this amazing, rare,
04:19like, once-in-a-generation talent,
04:21while the rest of the team
04:22just kind of weren't as exciting.
04:25But this season, though,
04:26Journey Through Time and Space now absolutely finished.
04:29This season, though, on a slot,
04:31I doff the proverbial cap to you,
04:34because he has used Trent Alexander-Arnold,
04:37he should be there,
04:37absolutely brilliantly.
04:40He's now back to holding the width for Liverpool
04:43down the right-hand side,
04:44which allows Mo Salah to play a lot closer to the goal,
04:46but he still does invert into the middle of the pitch
04:50as and when the situation requires,
04:52because he is really good at that.
04:54Except now, if you look at his heat map,
04:56you can see he does it a lot more in the final third,
04:59where his ability on the ball can hurt teams a lot better,
05:03than he does in his own third,
05:04because he doesn't need to be there to help him play out.
05:07Now, don't get me wrong,
05:08he does go in there from time to time,
05:10but it's almost always situational,
05:12and a decision that's made on the pitch
05:14as the game is developing.
05:16Like, so good has Ryan Gravenberg's been this season
05:18as, like, one of the few genuine single pivots
05:22in European football,
05:23when everybody else desperately wants
05:24at least two in there.
05:26He just leaves him to do that job,
05:28and he helps Liverpool play out.
05:29But when teams do manage
05:31to squeeze him really well
05:33and start causing problems,
05:34then he will feel free to move in
05:36to help out.
05:37But he tends to be the one
05:39making that decision,
05:40and it's made him so much more useful,
05:43because there's three really important roles
05:45he can do in any single game.
05:48And of course,
05:48if the point was not already obvious to you,
05:50then the fact that Gravenberg
05:51very rarely needs him in there
05:53frees him up to be further up the pitch,
05:55usually on this right-hand side,
05:56which in turn frees Mo Salah up.
05:59So it has this lovely knock-on effect,
06:02and it's why Liverpool have been so good this season.
06:05I-M-H-O.
06:07And actually, in fact,
06:07it's not just I-M-H-O,
06:09because when you look at his numbers
06:10and his stats for this season,
06:11they are mind-bending.
06:14His shots, his assists, his XG,
06:16his shot-creating actions,
06:17all in the very top 1% and 2%
06:19of players across Europe this season,
06:22which means he's like,
06:23now become one of the most effective,
06:26creative weapons
06:27from the back four in the world.
06:30Passes, through balls, key passes,
06:33passes into the final third,
06:34passes into the penalty area,
06:35all absolutely incredible.
06:37And he's even back, if you look here,
06:39to crossing it into the box,
06:40which is something he wasn't doing
06:42when he was inverting into the middle.
06:43Like, they're getting him the ball
06:45in all the right areas,
06:46and they're getting it to him a lot,
06:48so he's a huge, huge part of what they're doing.
06:51And because they're top of the league,
06:53you can see just, like,
06:54how big a part of that success he's been.
06:57Like, they've harnessed him,
06:58finally this season,
06:59into being able to do all the things
07:01he's really good at,
07:01and crucially,
07:03protecting him from the things he's not.
07:05Because this is where I think Slott
07:06deserves the most amount of credit.
07:08These are his defensive numbers
07:09from the last two seasons
07:11when he was getting moved more
07:13into the middle of the pitch.
07:14And these are those same numbers
07:16from this season.
07:17Now, what this manager has done
07:18has made him way less
07:20of a defensive liability
07:21than he has been in previous seasons.
07:23And he's now contributing,
07:25I think, pretty well off the ball.
07:28So he's having a brilliant season, yes,
07:29but it's all mostly down
07:31to just what an excellent fit he is
07:33in this system
07:34that Slott has partially devised for him.
07:37So then,
07:38so losing him for Nout
07:40is an absolute disaster, right?
07:43Like, he's a vital tactical cog,
07:46and in terms of how he profiles,
07:47he's virtually irreplaceable, right?
07:51Well, that
07:52is not
07:54what I think.
07:57I think
07:57Liverpool will be different
07:59without him, yes,
08:01but A,
08:02not that much different,
08:04and B,
08:05not different
08:06in a bad way.
08:08So first up,
08:09and yep,
08:09I'm pretty much going to rewind
08:10through the whole video here,
08:11what Slott has actually done
08:13is taken him from being
08:14the worst
08:16one-on-one defender in Europe,
08:18that's what this stat means,
08:20to simply
08:21one
08:22of the worst.
08:23That's an improvement,
08:24but it's still
08:25nowhere near good enough
08:27at this level.
08:27And what that means
08:28is that in every single game
08:30Liverpool play,
08:30attackers always try
08:32and target him specifically,
08:34they try and isolate him,
08:35they try and get him
08:36in one-on-one situations,
08:37because when they do,
08:38more often than not,
08:39they can beat him.
08:40And also,
08:41because of the way Slott
08:42specifically instructs Salah
08:43not to waste his time
08:45tracking back,
08:46that he'll try and cover for that
08:47in other ways,
08:48it is
08:48the closest thing
08:50Liverpool have
08:50to a glaring weakness.
08:52Like, this stat,
08:53the BBC published
08:54a few weeks ago,
08:55absolutely
08:56floored me,
08:57right?
08:58If you divide the pitch
08:59into sort of a central,
09:00a left,
09:00and a right third,
09:01so not the middle thirds,
09:03like the widthways
09:04thirds,
09:05right?
09:05Liverpool's opponents
09:06have over 44%
09:08of their touches
09:10on this left-hand side
09:12of the pitch.
09:13They have like 32
09:14on the right
09:15and 23
09:15in the middle,
09:17which doesn't sound
09:18all of that wild,
09:19right?
09:19But if you rank
09:20those percentages
09:22with the rest
09:23of the Premier League,
09:23right,
09:24this is the lowest
09:25percentage on that side
09:26in the league,
09:27this is the lowest
09:28percentage in the middle
09:29in the league,
09:30and this is the highest
09:32percentage
09:32in the entire league
09:34for touches
09:35down this side.
09:36Every single team
09:38comes up against
09:39Liverpool
09:39and tries to get in
09:41here.
09:42And they're also,
09:43by extension,
09:43conceding the fifth
09:44highest number
09:45of chances total.
09:47Bear in mind,
09:47like how few chances
09:48Liverpool concede
09:49compared to the rest
09:50of the league,
09:51the fifth highest
09:52number of chances
09:52in the league
09:53from the left-hand side.
09:55Now, it doesn't lead
09:56to a lot of goals.
09:57They defend them
09:58quite well
09:58because you've got
09:59Alisson,
09:59you've got Van Dijk,
10:00you've got Canadi,
10:00but teams have a lot
10:02of joy making
10:03something happen
10:04from this part
10:06of the pitch.
10:07And Alexander Arnold
10:08has started all
10:09but three Premier League
10:11games he's been
10:11available for
10:12in this part
10:14of the pitch.
10:15So it is him.
10:16Like, I don't think
10:17it's his fault
10:18necessarily.
10:18He just doesn't
10:19profile like a
10:19particularly good
10:20defensive right-back
10:21and Liverpool
10:22sometimes struggle
10:23to give him
10:24the necessary cover.
10:25What he brings
10:25going forward
10:26is more than
10:27worth it,
10:27but undeniably
10:29this is the soft
10:30part of Liverpool
10:31that teams feel
10:32they can get at
10:32and that's because
10:33of him.
10:34And again,
10:34just want to
10:35reiterate this
10:36because it's
10:36the internet
10:37and I know
10:37how it gets,
10:38that's not a
10:39criticism of him
10:40as an individual
10:40or a player,
10:42it's a fault
10:43in the system.
10:44But regardless,
10:45what it does mean
10:46in the context
10:47of losing him
10:47as a player
10:48in this squad
10:48is, I think,
10:50when you look
10:50at his offensive
10:51output but then
10:52compare it to
10:53how much he
10:54is targeted,
10:55I think you can
10:56take a bit of a
10:56hit here.
10:57You can have
10:57somebody who
10:58doesn't necessarily
10:59bring all of
11:00this to the team
11:00if the trade-off
11:02is you can tighten
11:02up a little bit
11:03in this area.
11:04And also,
11:05saying that,
11:05if I'm on a
11:06slot,
11:07I am aware
11:08of this emerging
11:09trend in right-backs
11:11across Europe
11:11as being these
11:12hyper-athletic,
11:14these super-athletes
11:15who play vertically,
11:17which is to say,
11:18like,
11:18from there to there,
11:19that's considered
11:20up in football,
11:21vertically up the
11:22entire side
11:23of the pitch
11:24and effectively,
11:25in the process,
11:26feel like having
11:27two players
11:28instead of one.
11:29Robinson,
11:30at Fulham,
11:30Kirkhares,
11:31at Bournemouth,
11:32Hakimi,
11:32Frimpong,
11:33Dumfries,
11:33players who have it
11:34in them
11:35for 90 minutes
11:36to go the entire
11:38way up this
11:39side of the pitch
11:39to add to the
11:40press and the
11:41attack when they
11:42need to,
11:43but also still be
11:44back in position
11:45every single time
11:46the opposition
11:47plays through you.
11:49Effectively meaning
11:50they're marking
11:51two different
11:51players in
11:52different phases
11:53of the game,
11:54so doing two
11:55people's work
11:56with just one
11:57body.
11:58And Liverpool,
11:58by the way,
11:58have seen this
11:59first-hand this
12:00season,
12:00like Anthony
12:01Robinson's best
12:02performance for
12:03Fulham came
12:04against Liverpool,
12:05where yes,
12:05they were down
12:06to 10 men,
12:06but the way
12:07he was breaking
12:08forward even
12:09late in the
12:09game from
12:10these really,
12:11really deep
12:11positions and
12:13still being there
12:13to mark Mo Salah
12:14when Liverpool
12:15had the ball
12:15is sort of
12:16like a good
12:17example of
12:17how it's done.
12:18And also,
12:19yep,
12:19any excuse to
12:20mention this,
12:20Newcastle showed
12:21them how effective
12:22it can be in
12:23the Carabao Cup
12:23final because
12:24they had Tino
12:24Livramento pushing
12:26all the way up
12:27onto Gerald
12:27Quansa when
12:28Liverpool had the
12:29ball at the
12:29back,
12:30but then still,
12:31still being there
12:32to man-mark Mo
12:33Salah when
12:34Liverpool played
12:35through their
12:36press.
12:36And then,
12:36lo and behold,
12:37the second goal,
12:38he's got the
12:38legs,
12:38he's got the
12:39energy to go
12:40beyond
12:40Quansa and
12:42get across in.
12:43Like,
12:43he was their
12:44biggest attacking
12:45outlet down that
12:45side,
12:46but also back
12:47defending when he
12:48needed to be.
12:49And Trent Alexander-Ronald
12:50is a lot of
12:51things,
12:52but he is not a
12:53full-back who is
12:53ever going to do
12:55that.
12:55Just to go back to
12:56Robinson,
12:56as you saw the
12:57quintessential
12:58example of this in
12:59the league this
12:59season,
12:59when you look at
13:00his ball-carrying
13:01numbers,
13:02and bear in mind,
13:02this is a team
13:03who see a lot
13:04less of the
13:05ball than
13:06Liverpool.
13:06So you can sort
13:07of mentally
13:07inflate these a
13:08little bit if you
13:09want.
13:09What he offers the
13:10team in terms of
13:11the width he
13:12provides,
13:13the attacking
13:13throughout,
13:13how he gets
13:14into the box,
13:14how he gets
13:15into the final
13:15third,
13:16I would argue
13:17that's as
13:18impactful as
13:19what Trent does
13:20with the ball
13:20at his feet
13:21through his
13:21passing,
13:22but he's doing
13:23it purely
13:23through ball
13:24progression and
13:25running and
13:25just sort of
13:26being direct.
13:26Like this,
13:27in my opinion
13:28and possibly
13:29the opinion
13:29of Arna Slott,
13:30is the direction
13:31full-backs are
13:32going in.
13:32If we look at
13:33Trent's comparative
13:33numbers,
13:34yeah,
13:35he does okay,
13:36he sees an awful
13:37lot of the ball,
13:37he's not afraid
13:38of running with
13:38it,
13:39but when you
13:39look at the
13:39stuff that
13:40measures just
13:41how incisive
13:42this is,
13:43he's found
13:44massively lacking.
13:46But do you
13:47know whose
13:47numbers are not
13:49lacking in this
13:50regard?
13:50Who does look
13:50to be the
13:51very model of
13:52this modern
13:53ultra-athlete
13:54up-and-down
13:55vertical full-back
13:56that everybody's
13:57going to want
13:57so much?
13:59You're going to
13:59like this.
14:00Connor,
14:01middle name
14:02Bradley,
14:03like bloody
14:04hell.
14:05Those are
14:06already at
14:0621 years old
14:07elite,
14:09elite ball
14:10carrying and
14:11threat through
14:12ball carrying
14:12numbers.
14:14Like,
14:14he's arguably
14:15already one of
14:16the best full-backs
14:17at doing this
14:17in the Premier
14:18League and he's
14:19had what,
14:20two starts in
14:21the league this
14:22season?
14:22Three starts in
14:23the league this
14:23season?
14:24The guy is
14:25right there.
14:26Like,
14:26do you not
14:27get me wrong,
14:27he is nowhere
14:28near as good
14:30on the ball as
14:30Trent Alexander
14:31Arnold is.
14:31Like,
14:32just to go back
14:32to his heat
14:32map,
14:33he could not
14:33come in and
14:35give you a
14:35like-for-like
14:36replacement and
14:37give you this
14:37sort of
14:37contribution in
14:39this area of
14:39the pitch.
14:40That's not who
14:40he is.
14:41You could argue
14:41he's not as
14:42good a player as
14:44Trent Alexander
14:44Arnold is,
14:45but in the
14:45specific way that
14:47full-back play
14:48feels like it's
14:49going, in that
14:50regard, he is,
14:52and I don't
14:52mind saying this,
14:54already superior.
14:56Defensively, as
14:57well, you could
14:57not move on the
14:58internet after the
14:59Liverpool-Real Madrid
15:00game for the
15:00clips of him
15:01tracking back
15:02Mbappe, working
15:03all the way back
15:04down this
15:05flank, which is
15:05the other part
15:06of the job.
15:07So there's not
15:07really any major
15:09concerns there.
15:09Like, weirdly, he
15:10has the same
15:11defensive deficiency
15:12of getting dribbled
15:13past as Trent
15:14Alexander
15:15Arnold does, but
15:16already, if you
15:17look at the
15:17numbers, he's not
15:19great, but he is
15:20better.
15:21So yes, don't
15:22get me wrong, it
15:22must absolutely
15:23suck to lose a
15:24player as good as
15:25he is, who is
15:26local to the
15:27area, who
15:28allegedly loves
15:29and lives and
15:30breathes the
15:30football club, and
15:31not see a penny
15:32come your way
15:33for it.
15:34But honestly, I
15:36think this is a
15:37good thing for
15:38Liverpool.
15:39I think it
15:39opens so many
15:41interesting
15:41possibilities for
15:42them as a
15:43football team.
15:43Like, I think
15:44Conor Bradley is
15:45the exact kind
15:46of player they
15:47would want to
15:48reinvest a
15:49transfer fee for
15:50if they've got
15:51one.
15:51But they don't
15:52need to do
15:52that, because
15:53I don't know
15:54who you'd go
15:55and buy who's
15:55better than he
15:57already is.
15:58And I mean,
15:58obviously, don't
15:59get me wrong,
16:00Trent Alexander
16:00Arnold leaving
16:01Liverpool 4-3,
16:02says some stuff
16:03about the way
16:04the club's being
16:04ruined, it says
16:05some stuff about
16:06him, and all of
16:07that is arguably
16:08quite bad.
16:09But just purely
16:10in terms of what
16:11it means for
16:12the football, he
16:13is opening up a
16:15pathway to the
16:16kind of player I
16:17think ultimately
16:18they would want
16:19in that position.
16:19So, maybe it's
16:23good, maybe it's
16:24good in a way.
16:27But anyway,
16:27speaking of away,
16:29I am now also
16:30away myself,
16:31because it's
16:32lunchtime, and
16:32I've finished the
16:33video, but
16:33Liverpool fans,
16:34please, my God,
16:36let me know what
16:36you make of all
16:37of this, because
16:38I can't quite get
16:39my head around
16:39it.
16:40Some people are
16:40really angry,
16:41some people are
16:41really not, so
16:42if you could
16:42explain the
16:43situation to me
16:43like I'm five,
16:45I'd really
16:45appreciate that.
16:46And only slightly
16:47more importantly
16:47though, again,
16:48welcome to
16:49ACFC, it's the
16:50new channel, I'm
16:51doing it with
16:51The Independent,
16:52it's really, really
16:53fun and really,
16:54really good, and I
16:54can't believe how
16:55many subs we've
16:56had already.
16:57So, if you have
16:58enjoyed this and
16:58you think maybe
16:59you'll enjoy some
17:00in the future,
17:02you telling your
17:03friends or putting
17:04it on social media
17:04or just sort of
17:05like waving to
17:06people that we
17:06are here and we
17:07are doing this,
17:08is more important
17:09content and does
17:10more good than
17:11anything YouTube
17:12and its little
17:13algorithm can
17:15offer us.
17:16So, for those
17:16who have been
17:16doing that, thank
17:17you so, so
17:18much and for
17:19those who are
17:19doing it in the
17:20future, thank
17:21you for them.
17:22Still a long
17:23way to go of
17:23course, like
17:24fancy background,
17:25fancy motion
17:25graphics, fancy
17:26everything, like
17:27look, this just
17:28says my name.
17:29Soon that will
17:29animate it and it
17:30will hurt your
17:31eyes to even
17:32look upon it, but
17:33you can't, it
17:33is correct, you
17:34can get me across
17:34all the social
17:35medias, at
17:35Adam Cleary,
17:36C-L-E-R-Y,
17:37and that's it,
17:38that's it,
17:39Trent Alexander
17:40on, God
17:41bless you sir, I
17:42hope you have a
17:42lovely time in
17:43Madrid, but I
17:43think Liverpool
17:44will be okay,
17:47but they'll be
17:47more than okay,
17:48I think it's good
17:49for everyone, I
17:50want everyone to
17:51be happy, is
17:51what I want, and
17:52I think when
17:53everybody calms
17:54down, that is
17:55what this will
17:56do, especially
17:57if your name's
17:58Connor Bradley.
17:59Goodbye!
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