The evolution of Alexander-Arnold - but what's his best position?

Just what is Trent Alexander-Arnold's champion position?

It is simply a mobility pondered by fans, pundits and managers and, arsenic nan 25-year-old prepares for Liverpool's 2024-25 campaign, each eyes will beryllium connected caller head Arne Slot's answer.

He has spent nan mostly of his elder profession pinch nan Reds astatine right-back but, pinch lingering doubts complete his defending, immoderate judge he should beryllium utilized successful midfield - wherever he has lined up for England successful six of his past 7 starts.

Former England defender Gary Neville has described Alexander-Arnold arsenic a generational talent, while ex-England leader Gareth Southgate said he has "as bully a passing scope arsenic anybody successful world football".

Alexander-Arnold was absent for Liverpool's circuit of America but started Sunday's last pre-season friends against Sevilla astatine right-back - a position youngster Conor Bradley has besides impressed in.

But, pinch his statement expiring successful nan summertime and persistent links to Real Madrid, is it clip to utilise Alexander-Arnold successful a much regular precocious role?

"He'd played successful midfield successful Pep Lijnders' Under-16s, astatine nan guidelines of nan diamond," Tim Jenkins, a erstwhile expert and adjunct coach for Liverpool Under-21s, tells BBC Sport astir Alexander-Arnold's early development.

"He was correct successful nan mediate of nan transportation and progressive successful everything.

"When he went into nan Under-18s pinch Neil Critchley, they started to thief him usage his beingness attributes a bit, truthful he played connected nan extracurricular arsenic a correct winger aliases a correct full-back.

"And earlier nan Under-16s, he'd played arsenic a centre-half and a full-back for Michael Beale successful nan Under-15s property group."

It was pinch Critchley, now Blackpool manager, and his Under-18s broadside that Alexander-Arnold's modulation into a right-back accelerated.

Before nan 2016-17 season, aged conscionable 17, he trained pinch nan first squad during pre-season.

"I retrieve he had a existent purple spot aft he'd done pre-season pinch nan first squad past came backmost to play pinch nan Under-21s," says Jenkins, who is now adjunct caput coach astatine Wolverhampton Wanderers.

"We played 1 crippled against Leicester astatine location and Jurgen [Klopp] came to watch. We were 4-0 up earlier half-time and he'd created everything from nan right. He looked for illustration he'd gone up 3 aliases 4 levels.

"A week later, we played Tottenham distant and it was nan aforesaid again. He was caput and shoulders nan champion subordinate connected nan pitch. He scored a extremity from agelong region successful that game. It wasn't excessively agelong aft that he made his debut for nan first squad successful nan League Cup."

In January 2017, Alexander-Arnold made his first Premier League commencement successful a 1-1 tie pinch Manchester United.

"That full play he'd been building up to that moment," Jenkins says. "He had existent momentum astir what he was doing."

"The crippled has evolved now," says erstwhile Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Republic of Ireland subordinate Jason McAteer, who, for illustration Alexander-Arnold, played arsenic a right-back and a cardinal midfielder during his career.

"Today's full-back is simply a batch much for illustration a wing-back. You've sewage to get forward. You've sewage to get balls into nan box. And you person this hybrid domiciled wherever you travel into midfield.

"Trent has sewage that galore attributes that you've sewage to get him into nan team. You look astatine Trent now and he's grown up, he's evolved."

That improvement has seen Alexander-Arnold's power astatine Anfield grow. With a scope of passing, imagination and productivity honed during his past arsenic a midfielder, his unsocial skillset has allowed him to go a playmaker from full-back.

In nan 2018-19 play - nan first run successful which he started much than half of Liverpool’s Premier League games - Alexander-Arnold registered 12 assists, nan third-highest tally successful nan apical flight.

His 13 assists nan pursuing play was 2nd only to Kevin de Bruyne, and only team-mate Mohamed Salah bettered his tally of 12 for nan 2021-22 campaign.

Last season, Alexander-Arnold's mean of 5.25 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes successful nan Premier League and Europa League classed successful nan 99th percentile among full-backs successful Europe's apical 5 divisions.

He was besides successful nan 99th percentile erstwhile it came to expected assisted goals per 90 (0.37) and passes attempted (87.71) and nan 98th percentile for progressive passes (8.69).

He classed eighth among outfielders successful nan Premier League for full successful agelong passes (147) and 3rd for switches of play (32).

"If you look astatine nan assists from earlier successful his career, they came from wide," Jenkins says. "More recently, he's been capable to move wrong into nan half-space and present from there. Trent has had an perfect skillset to accommodate to really nan crippled has changed.

"If you spot footage of him playing erstwhile he was little, he was fundamentally nan aforesaid player. You'd spot each nan driving runs, nan beingness attributes, his ball-striking and his passing complete distance. He's conscionable adapted his strengths into immoderate position he plays."

"I started arsenic a right-back and progressed into playing connected nan correct wing," McAteer says of his ain modulation into midfield.

"When Bruce Rioch came to Bolton, I evolved into a centre-midfielder. I quickly had to study that your caput has sewage to beryllium connected a swivel, that nan full transportation is successful play.

"You person to study really to play pinch your backmost to play, really to unfastened your assemblage up and really to make runs to suffer your marker and decorativeness chances erstwhile they travel along.

"Reading nan crippled is simply a large point for a cardinal midfielder, knowing wherever you are connected nan pitch."

Those are each attributes Alexander-Arnold possesses. His unique attack to nan full-back role, taking up positions adjacent nan mediate of nan pitch, gives him a leg-up erstwhile it comes to starting arsenic a midfielder.

It was understandable, then, that Southgate deployed nan Liverpool subordinate centrally astatine Euro 2024 fixed he lacked an evident midfield partner for Declan Rice.

McAteer, though, believes Alexander-Arnold was group up to struggle successful Germany.

"We look astatine him arsenic this passing genius, awesome pinch nan shot astatine his feet and creative," he says.

"But successful nan modern crippled you request to beryllium protected. I deliberation pinch England he was hung retired to barren a bit.

"His qualities are location to beryllium seen, but you tin beryllium exposed. Time and abstraction are your champion mates successful football. If you're not fixed that by nan subordinate alongside you, defending and taking players away, you're not going to flourish.

"Trent's weakest property is his defending and he was playing arsenic a deep-lying midfielder. He was awesome connected nan ball, but without it he was exposed and he became a spot of a scapegoat."

In a property convention successful June, Slot - who tends to play a 4-3-3 aliases 4-2-1-3 formation, was asked straight astir wherever he planned to play Alexander-Arnold, but declined to answer.

"I deliberation that hybrid full-back domiciled is still his champion position, wherever he tin rotation into nan wrong of nan pitch," Jenkins adds.

"He tin beryllium a full-back erstwhile you haven't sewage nan shot and a midfielder erstwhile you have.

"Klopp would opportunity that sometimes Trent will beryllium connected nan outside, sometimes he'll beryllium connected nan wrong – wherever he is, he’s conscionable going to beryllium Trent."