How Liverpool can replace Alexander-Arnold without replacing Alexander-Arnold
Finding a like-for-like replacement for the England international is a fool's errand. Liverpool need to instead adjust their tactics to find a new Anfield playmaker.
It now seems more than likely that Trent Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool this summer and while that’s a fascinating transfer rumour in its own right, I’m far more intrigued by the wider story that will now likely unfold at Anfield when the England international departs for Spain at the end of the season.
Liverpool have been linked with a number of players to directly replace Alexander-Anrold, such as Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong. But finding a like-for-like replacement for the right-back seems like an impossible task. For example, where Alexander-Arnold relies on his remarkable range of passing to create chances for his team, Frimpong relies on his dribbling and speed in the final third. So even the most popular candidate wouldn’t be an ideal fit for Arne Slot’s team next season.
Instead, I think the Dutch tactician may be better placed to use Alexander-Arnold’s departure as an opportunity to rebuild this Liverpool team in his own image. And rather than looking for another world class right-back, he could instead wipe his tactics board clean and make better use of the players in his squad to replace Alexander-Arnold without actually replacing Alexander-Arnold. Allow me to explain.
First things first, we need to address the issue of right back. But fortunately for Liverpool, they already have an outstanding candidate in the form of Conor Bradley. Long considered an understudy to Alexander-Arnold, Bradley is perhaps already a better all-round full-back than his Liverpool team mate. So far this season he’s averaged more tackles per game, won a greater percentage of his tackles per game and blocks on average more than twice as many passes than Alexander-Arnold in each and every match. Even his goals and assists per Premier League game, which stands at 0.25 per 90 isn’t that far off the England international.
But for Liverpool to properly replace Alexander-Arnold’s playmaking, Slot will need to get more out of his midfielders next season. So far this season the right-back has been second only to Mohamed Salah for assists, key passes and passes into the box per league game and in each of these instances the 26-year-old talent has been covering up for a hard-working but altogether uncreative midfield trio. And that has to change.
When we rank every central midfielder in the Premier League by total key passes made this season, Liverpool only have two in the top 20. And Dominik Szoboszlai, who sits above all other Liverpool midfielders, still comes in behind Kevin De Bruyne, even though the Manchester City star started 12 league games this season. In total, Slot’s midfield has only directly set up 11 of Liverpool’s 69 goals in the league this season. That has to change next season and luckily for the Anfield club their midfield is crammed full of playmaking potential.
For example, when we consider two key midfielders in Szoboszlai and Ryan Gravenberch and look back at their stats over the last five seasons we can clearly see two players that know how to thread a through ball into the box. Since moving from RB Leipzig to Liverpool, Szoboszlai’s assists per 90 have dropped by a staggering 69 percent and while Gravenberch had a horrible time at Bayern Munich, his assists per 90 at Ajax were almost three times higher per game than they are for Liverpool this season. And if Slot can get either of these players or perhaps even both of them back into their old playmaking routines, they could easily compensate for Alexander-Arnold’s passes into the box this season.
Another untapped source of assists in this Liverpool team is Curtis Jones. The 24-year-old talent has the highest average of assists per 90 among all midfielders in Slot’s team this season with an impressive figure of 0.23 per 90, which is actually very close to Alexander-Arnold’s own return (0.25). But, because Slot wants to keep his midfield industrious and full of water-carriers, Jones has rarely featured for the Anfield club, starting just 13 league games this season.
In a sense, Slot has continued Jürgen Klopp’s tactics of having hard-working ball winners in the middle of the park, while relying on his attacking full-backs and outstanding wingers to create the goals. But this isn’t Klopp’s Liverpool. And Slot now has an opportunity to pump far more creativity into the middle of the pitch next season.
This shift in tactics would also help Liverpool tackle more issues that risk being a major problem next season. Alongside Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool also remain heavily reliant on other wide players like Salah and Andy Robertson. It remains to be seen whether Salah will stay at the club next season or, at 32 years of age, will be anywhere near as effective as he has been this season. And while Robertson is unquestionably an Anfield hero, his productivity in the final third has gone off a cliff in this league campaign now that’s also into this thirties.
Whether Liverpool go out and spend €40/50m on a new right back this summer remains to be seen. Only Slot and his backroom staff will know if Bradley is ready to start games and if this squad can accommodate the loss of such an influential figure. But either way, it’ll be interesting to see how the Anfield boss tackles this huge issue after making very few changes to the team he inherited this season. Slot knew he wouldn’t be able to ride Klopp’s coattails forever and now may finally be time for him to make some big calls about the future of this Liverpool team.