Jürgen Klopp has announced that Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker have all received promotions at Liverpool.
What’s the story?
Well, if Liverpool didn’t already have enough leaders in Virgil van Dijk, Jordan Henderson and James Milner, they now have more – in an official sense, of course.
Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Alisson have been voted into Liverpool’s captaincy and leadership group by their peers.
Goal quote Klopp as saying: “We had the three who stayed, and then the players voted for another three. The three obviously were Hendo, Milly and Virg, and then the next most votes were for Trent, Robbo and Alisson Becker.”
Goal add that it was Gini Wijnaldum’s old position on the committee which was being addressed by the Reds.
We’re sure they were vocal figures anyway, but they are now set to be recognised as authoritative players in an official sense.
Instead of finding just one replacement, the Reds have interestingly opted to add three players into the Dutchman’s position.
Have Liverpool replaced Gini Wijnaldum on the pitch?
Evidently, Klopp has now replaced Wijnaldum’s role in the leadership group with Alexander-Arnold, Robertson and Alisson.
However, has the German replaced the £165,000-a-week midfielder out on the pitch? In our view, he hasn’t.
Wijnaldum was a master of managing transitions, so Liverpool rarely found themselves too high up the pitch, or too deep.
As Klopp said, he became a ‘controlling‘ midfielder who brought assurance.
Liverpool didn’t seem to be missing him too much, although the 3-3 draw against Brentford showed what the Reds are missing.
Klopp’s side became dragged into a scrappy game which they didn’t need to be involved in, but a lack of control in midfield allowed Brentford to unsettle Liverpool.
With Wijnaldum on the pitch, we believe Liverpool would’ve seen out a 3-2 win against the Bees.
Hopefully, Liverpool can find an on-field replacement for the Dutchman, after replacing him in the leadership group behind the scenes.
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