Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed that he believes he wants to remain at right-back ahead of the European Championships this summer – and his verdict lines up with Jurgen Klopp’s comments from a year ago.
The Liverpool defender’s position has been a topic of debate across the past few years as his resounding successes on the pitch have asked many to ponder whether he should be playing in midfield. To summarise, his passing and ball-playing ability is statistically up there with the very best creative attackers but his defending has been questioned over time, especially in one v one situations which is why many believe he should be playing further forward.
Klopp made a decision in April 2023 to invert the 25-year-old into midfield while in possession, giving him more license to get on the ball and creative to his heart’s content. It led them on a brilliant run at the end of the season and he continued that form into this season. And while he has featured in some games for England in midfield alongside Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham – and had success – he believes he belongs at right-back for club and country. “I’d say I still see myself as a right back.” He said on The Overlap via Sky Bet. “I see myself as someone who can probably play in both positions if needed. My focus, until I’m told otherwise by the Gaffer, is that I’m still a right back. I come inside and I play inside when we have the ball, but when you write the team sheet, I am a right back.”
While fans and some pundits have called for him to play further forward, Klopp spoke out a year ago against those claims, saying: “That is possible but why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don’t understand that really. As if the right-back position is not as important as the others. People who say that I struggle to understand how you could think that.”
The issues for the Liverpool star is that England have a plethora of right-backs that include Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker – as well as the injured Reece James – who will all be chosen ahead of him due to their defensive consistency. Despite that, he will still have a vital role to play as his creativity off the bench could be the difference between winning and losing key games at the Euros this summer.
