Trent Alexander-Arnold has admitted his new midfield role could be his best way to become an England regular in the team Gareth Southgate is evolving to make a challenge for the European Championships next year.
Southgate talked to Alexander-Arnold at the back end of the Premier League season about changing his “inverted full-back” position at Liverpool to a No. 8, higher up the pitch. Against Malta on Friday evening, albeit against the team ranked 172nd in the world, there were signs that Southgate has another orthodox midfielder competing for a starting place.
With Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier his dependable right-backs and Reece James to return from injury, Alexander-Arnold had international opportunities limited by competition in his usual position plus his devastating thigh injury before the last Euros. Alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham there is potential for a mouthwatering midfield.
“It is certainly an avenue,” said Alexander-Arnold. “One that is clearly being explored and is something the manager wants to explore and I want to explore. It is one that is exciting for the future, and who knows? For me, I want to make sure I am playing as many England games as possible and that has always been the aim, causing headaches for the manager. I think this is a potential route we can go down that will help me get into the team.”
Jurgen Klopp has never disguised his surprise at his player being used sparingly by Southgate. His role to maximize Alexander-Arnold’s talent has been starting him at full-back but picking his time to move into the defensive-midfield area where he can use his range of passes. While it feels natural, how to operate in the role has been learned by Alexander-Arnold over the campaign.
“There were a lot of questions involved,” he said. “There was me asking questions and absorbing a lot of information about where I needed to be and how I needed to play the game. There was also me feeling natural there. Feeling like it is something I’ve always done and something I could do regularly. I would say it was definitely a mixture of both.
“It is very creative these days. There are a lot of interpretations of positions. Every position different teams play different ways and there are different roles within those teams. I think it is very creative football at the moment and long may it continue.
“To be honest, I know the qualities that I’ve got and the things I need to work on. Whatever position I play in, that will always be there. I am someone who is a perfectionist who wants to be as close to perfect as possible, so although this was a good game there are a lot of things I can work on and improve.”
At the Ta’ Qali stadium, Alexander-Arnold took his time before answering what he felt went well against Malta. It was his positioning, more than the goal he put into the top corner. “It is like I am blowing my trumpet…there were aspects there, those details rather than just the goal,” he said.
Southgate pleased with Alexander-Arnold’s willingness to learn
The questions he has asked Klopp and Southgate about his new roles are at odds with the perception of a player relying solely on his natural talent. Southgate called it solving the Trent Bridge. Finding him a role and then finding that the player is a student of the game willing to learn.
“It was a good bridge. We know that at the club he has played a bit deeper, but we wanted to get him in those higher areas for the reasons we saw,” Southgate said. “I had a chat with him four weeks ago about it and he was excited by it.
“We talked real details specifics about “Ok, what would that look like and where did I see it?” And he was curious to ask intelligent questions. For me, the most pleasing part is that a lot of time with England it’s been difficult.
“It’s hard to give somebody the faith. It’s a bit like we went to tournaments with five or six wingers, you can’t have them all believe that they’re the favorite son because you can’t justify that with your actions in the end. So whenever you’re putting other players in, it’s inevitably going to hit somebody’s confidence. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t seen the quality of the player or had faith in what’s possible.
“I’ve always said he’s a talent we’re trying to find a way with; he’s been unfortunate that we have such high quality full-backs and experienced full-backs.”
The Euros next year is almost exactly a year away and Alexander-Arnold’s position is another example of Southgate evolving his team as he has over the last three major tournaments.
“We need to keep studying and learning because the game is constantly evolving in front of our eyes with the way club football is and European football. But the attributes of the players determine the types of options you have,” he said.
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