The Future of Trent Alexander Arnold
Liverpool’s right-back has more ability than what the English management feel he has and his future will prove that he’ll be even better than they’ve ever imagined he could be
In his early days, Trent Alexander Arnold was very underrated by his country.
Having proved himself with Liverpool for a few years and winning the Premier League title and the Champions League Arnold should have been one of the first players on the English team sheet for the coming season.
But he wasn’t.
Instead in March 2021, Trent Alexander Arnold was dropped from the English football team.
At the same time, the English football team was being favored to go on and win the European Football Championship that Summer. Yet one of the most successful English players in the league was being snubbed by the management. Considering that the English team had never won any championship it was questionable as to why he was not considered one of the top eleven footballers in England or even good enough to be in the bigger squad of players.
Arguably, Alexander Arnold was the making of that Liverpool team that won so much in a previous couple of seasons.
His quick thinking in the Champion League’s semi-final against Barcelona was the stuff of pure class. You could never say it was something off the training ground because the exact situation with such a talented Barcelona team could never be replicated especially when you consider the specific scenario that Liverpool was in against that great Barcelona team at that time.
And for sure that English team had never played under such pressure as they’d never played in a major tournament in Trent’s time where he was available for selection.
Finding players that can play under pressure is very difficult.
No matter what you do in training there’s no way you can replicate the pressure that Liverpool was under that night as the game was at 3–3 on aggregate and the Liverpool faithful now expected another great European comeback in Anfield.
For a young man to do what he did under pressure in the flicker of an eye was superb.
Don’t get me wrong if a player is not playing up to his level at a time then he needs to improve. And by March 2021 Liverpool as a team were not playing up to their level. Having won the Premier League the previous season they had now found themselves outside the top four positions and were in danger of not qualifying for the Champions League the following season.
But Trent Alexander Arnold was not the cause of all of this. As a defender, he had to react to the way the team was performing because of this.
Yet, there’s no doubt that as a defender he wasn’t playing up to his best at the time when the English squad was announced.
But if that’s all the English manager saw in him as a player then it’s quite odd. Because it was clear that in the previous seasons Liverpool played a very attacking game utilizing their right and left-back in an advanced position most of the time. And because the Liverpool team had so many injuries at that time their whole midfield and defense were disorganized.
This would have disrupted Trent Alexander Arnold’s perception of his positioning and who he felt was defending alongside him in certain scenarios during games.
Yet for the English management to have left him out of the squad completely at that time seems baffling. Because Trent Alexander Arnold is way more than the conventional right back. His real talent lies in his ability with the ball at his feet.
At the time he came into the Liverpool starting eleven it included a team that had established seasoned professionals right across the midfield line. But he can play further forward than only being tucked away as a defensive right back. His vision and ability to ping a pass are unlike any English player of his generation.
Not since David Beckham played on the right-wing for England has there been a player who could consistently cross as the ball as well.
And you could argue that his raw physical talents exceed those of Beckham. For one he seems to have more pace. But of course to have a career as great as Beckham’s is very rare indeed.
Still, Beckham became the English football captain and I believe that Trent Alexander Arnold can be one too.
Because he has more than just the ability to whip the ball in with his right foot. And his abilities are not only physical ones either.
One thing that is clear about watching Alexander Arnold is that he learns from his mistakes. And when he does he produces great performances very soon afterward. And for a young player that’s a great sign of character.
Considering all his physical attributes, and his experiences in a redshirt in his initial couple of years in his career and realizing that he has a strong character there is no doubt in my mind that he’d make a fantastic captain at both the top of the Premier League and on an English international team.
And that doesn’t have to be as a right-back either.
Because he’s a player that could easily thrive further forward as a midfielder too.
And if England wants to consistently win European championships and World Cups they’ll have to start thinking outside the box on how they use their players.
In the meantime, Trent Alexander Arnold will be crossing them in the box and it’s up to others to score and win games while he does what he’s good at in creating and looking out for others on his team.
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