Liverpool have started pre-season and life begins without their legendary manager Jurgen Klopp.
The German had tremendous success during his time at Anfield and will be long remembered for ending the club’s 30-year wait to become champions of England again.
One of the great things Jurgen Klopp did at Liverpool was take the game of individual players to the next level.
Did the Reds spend? Yes, but in comparison to their rivals, it wasn’t as much and there were several low-profile players brought in who became gems.
But one man who cost absolutely nothing was Liverpool academy product, Trent Alexander-Arnold.
At the recent European Championships, he had a mixed time, starting in midfield and then hardly featuring after being dropped.
England were beaten by Spain in the final of Euro 2024, with Alexander-Arnold not playing in either the semi-final or the final.
Although, Alexander-Arnold did score his penalty during the shootout win over Switzerland and you feel that was his only big plus point.
Everyone knows the 25-year-old’s quality from right-back, but the call to play him in the middle of the park has left Richard Keys annoyed.
The former Sky Sports presenter thinks he ‘failed miserably’ in that role and England manager Gareth Southgate ‘thought he knew better than Klopp’, as he wrote in his personal blog.
Keys wanted to highlight how ‘Klopp didn’t think Alexander-Arnold was a midfield player’, yet the man in England’s dugout did.
Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield for England at Euro 2024
“The experiment with TAA (Trent Alexander-Arnold) failed miserably, as it was always going to,” said Keys.
“Jurgen Klopp didn’t think Alexander-Arnold was a midfield player so what gave Safegate the idea he was? Klopp worked with him every day. Safegate didn’t, but he thought he knew better than Klopp.
“When Safegate admitted he was fumbling about looking for a partner for Rice I was astounded. He’d had four years to do that following the Wembley final. In the end – I thought his treatment of TAA and Gallagher was poor.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold isn’t at fault
The Englishman is one of the best players on the ball in the Premier League and a player of high, high technical quality.
Did Alexander-Arnold have a miserable tournament? Yes. But he isn’t to blame here.
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This is a prime example of Southgate not being able to get the best out of him because he doesn’t have the attacking mindset to do so.
The Football Association are waiting on Southgate’s call on his England future, but sources have told HITC that he is expected to leave.
If Alexander-Arnold wants to thrive on the international stage, he needs Southgate gone and an attacking manager through the door. Perhaps it’s Klopp!?
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