It has been a remarkable first season for Arne Slot at Liverpool, but he has admitted he would change the way he dealt with Trent Alexander-Arnold on one occasion.
It has become something of a running joke how often Slot mentions Liverpool’s September defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The Reds’ 1-0 loss at Anfield is their only home defeat of the campaign and was a day on which nothing seemed to click for the new boss.
With Liverpool struggling, Slot decided to move Alexander-Arnold into an attacking midfield position in the second half, a choice which ultimately had little effect on the game.
Asked by Men in Blazers what he would do differently this season, Slot picked out that tactical tweak.
“It would be weird if you make five, 10, 15 decisions on a daily basis, that every decision you made was the right one to make,” began the head coach.
“I do remember now you’re asking me that when we lost against Forest at home, in the last 20 or 25 minutes I played Trent in the midfield where, at that moment of time, I thought maybe he could also be an attacking midfielder.
“I think I played him as an attacking midfielder, one of the two No. 8s, which wasn’t a big success at that moment and I’ve never done it afterwards again.”
Midfield is a position to which Alexander-Arnold is no stranger. However, he rarely plays as high up the pitch as was attempted against Forest.
The No. 66 is a better player with the ball at his feet, dictating play. Ask him to play with his back to goal and you lose much of what makes him uniquely special.
Slot continued: “Is that a mistake, yes or no? I don’t know.
“It took me maybe a bit of time to get to know the players really well, you don’t do this after a week, and unfortunately, I only had 14 or 15 of them only for two weeks before the season started.
“Then sometimes you try things. Sometimes they work out well, sometimes they don’t work out that well.
“Us losing against Forest did not have to do that much with Trent playing in the midfield, but it wasn’t something I did frequently afterwards.”
As the manager said, Slot has not played Alexander-Arnold in such an advanced position since.
Under Jurgen Klopp, the No. 66 would often drift infield and be given freedom to play in central positions. With Slot at the helm, however, he is afforded less flexibility.
The new coach prefers his right-backs to be more traditional in style, though they still need to be very good on the ball in forward positions.
There is no doubt that Alexander-Arnold would remain a starter if he were to stay at Liverpool, but perhaps an exit wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to the Reds, especially with Conor Bradley waiting in the wings.
