Liverpool coach says Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are world’s best at skill ‘99% of players’ never practice

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Liverpool’s decision to hire a throw-in coach back in 2018 raised a few eyebrows.

English football is typically skeptical of change, or doing things differently – but the results Thomas Gronnemark has produced at Anfield are there for all to see.

Jurgen Klopp surrounds himself with experts in their chosen field and the Dane seemingly leads the way when it comes to throw-ins.

He’s given an interview to the Guardian explaining that Liverpool’s full-backs Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold take the best throw-ins in the world.

“Robertson couldn’t throw past 19 metres when I met him. That is very, very short, and when you throw that short, it’s very, very easy to put that throw under pressure.

“He managed to extend his throw by nearly eight metres. With training we’ve managed to improve the radius of his throw-in by more than 500 square metres.

“Trent has reached just about the same level, but it took him a little longer. In my eyes, they are the best all-round throwers in the world.

“99% of the professional players and coaches I’m in contact with have never practised throw-ins, and those that have, have not practised at a particularly high level.”

Alexander-Arnold and Robertson are as good as any full back pairing in the world of football right now.

It’s likely the assists and the high-tempo style catch the eye more, but Gronnemark’s comments underline the desire at Liverpool for marginal gains.

Throw-ins may seem like a small detail but Liverpool have clearly gained an advantage by working on them, opening up more passing options and avoiding getting put under pressure.

It’s all part of Liverpool trying to be as good as they can in as many aspects of the game as possible – working on something 99 per cent of players have never even practiced.