Jurgen Klopp has unleashed a new Liverpool masterplan that will shake up the club
It's now over six months now since a tactical change increased the demands significantly on Liverpool's right-backs.
Without a win in five games, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders devised a gameplan to pack additional creativity into the team by getting Trent Alexander-Arnold into more central areas, further up the field. Rather than installing the Academy graduate into a fixed midfield spot, though, a compromise was reached.
The second half of a breathless 2-2 draw with Arsenal was punctuated by Alexander-Arnold's new-found freedom to roam. But at the time, it felt much more like a one-off tactic aimed at dragging the side back into the match after finding themselves two goals down to the then Premier League leaders.
Thiago latest as new Liverpool face spotted in training after Andy Robertson injury
How Liverpool became the most popular Premier League club in America
It was a strategy that paid off handsomely as Alexander-Arnold began to cause all manner of problems for an Arsenal outfit that were a missed Mohamed Salah penalty away from a 12th defeat in 20 by the Reds on Klopp's watch. The No.66 supplied a late assist for Roberto Firmino with a pinpoint cross after nutmegging his way past Oleksandr Zinchenko on Easter Sunday.
If the mid-game adjustment for Alexander-Arnold was very much a roll of the dice from Klopp, the 6-1 drubbing of Leeds in the subsequent game felt a lot more calculated as the England international ran riot, providing assists for Cody Gakpo and Darwin Nunez. Having claimed just three before the April tweak, Alexander-Arnold ended a difficult campaign on the whole for Liverpool with 10 in total, giving weight to those who supported the move.
While there are obvious areas to target when a right-back
Read on liverpoolecho.co.uk
