Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has highlighted the change in the role of the full-back under Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool with Trent Alexander-Arnold playing something of a hybrid position at the Premier League challengers these days.
Inverted full-backs are all the rage these days.
And while it was Pep Guardiola who really popularised one of the modern game’s more intriguing tactical quirks – Philipp Lahm performing those duties with typical class and poise under the Spaniard at Bayern Munich – Jurgen Klopp has got on board with the idea too in recent months.
Much had been made of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defensive deficiencies, with some wondering aloud if a more central role would enhance his playmaking qualities while hiding the weaknesses in his game.
Klopp, an elite man-manager but often highly underrated as a tactician, eventually found a way to combine the best of both worlds, Alexander-Arnold adapting supremely to a hybrid full-back/midfield role while Liverpool used the pace of Ibrahima Konate to provide cover on the flank.
Liverpool host Manchester City at Anfield
As you might expect, given his obsession with the finer details and finding new ways to win, Guardiola has been impressed by the ingenuity of his long-time sparring partner, even if Liverpool’s broader gameplan remains largely unchanged.
“Never before were Alexander-Arnold and the full-backs playing inside. Sometimes, the full-back goes wide, sometimes they play in different ways,” Guardiola says via Man City’s YouTube channel, the England international scoring a late equaliser during November’s 1-1 draw at the Etihad.
“But the main pattern of the game is the same. They make the game quick with incredible runners. The level (of Liverpool) is incredible.”
Alexander-Arnold unavailable for Jurgen Klopp
Alexander-Arnold will play no part of Sunday’s crunch clash between the two title rivals at Anfield. Nor will talismanic goalkeeper Alisson Becker.
It speaks volumes about the mentality and the togetherness Klopp has instilled on Merseyside, however, that the stellar performances of Coaimhin Kelleher and 20-year-old Connor Bradley have more than masked those high-profile absences, even if the latter perhaps lacks Alexander-Arnold’s ability to dictate play from almost a quarterback role.
Bradley scored an own goal in Thursday’s 5-1 thrashing of Sparta Prague. But that is a rare blot on his Liverpool copybook. Kelleher, meanwhile, showed why Virgil van Dijk thinks of him as a ‘world-class’ goalkeeper with a couple of outstanding saves in the Czech capital.
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