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Trent Alexander-Arnold: The Liverpool Wonderkid Making Full-Backs Fashionable

“No-one wants to be a full-back as a kid. No-one wants to grow up and be a Gary Neville.”

The words of Jamie Carragher during a 2013 broadcast of Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, as he took a far from thinly-veiled dig at his colleague’s former occupation.

Seven years on and - in an ironic turn of events - the football pitches of Carragher’s hometown of Liverpool are awash with youngsters attempting to impersonate the best right-back in the world.

The name they scream as they look to curl a sumptuous free kick past their mate in goal - Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Since making his first-team debut in 2016, Alexander-Arnold has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the game - and is now widely regarded as not only one of the best full-backs in world football, but one of the best players period. Despite his career still being in its infancy, the 21-year-old already boasts a Premier League and a Champions League winner’s medal, as well as a Ballon d’Or nomination.

While Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané are rightly lauded for clocking up consistently impressive numbers in front of goal, the pair are only afforded the freedom to drift inside because of the covering width offered by Alexander-Arnold and Robertson.

Without the endeavour and work rate of Liverpool’s brilliant full-backs, there would be no famous Liverpool front three, and there would just as likely be no Premier League title.

So we’ve established that Alexander-Arnold has the engine, the quality, the desire and the character to be classed as the greatest right-back in the world, but does he have the footballing brain to match? You probably already know where this is heading.

Anfield. 7 May 2019. 21:38. The hometown boy’s crowning moment.

Having trailed 3-0 from the first leg of their tie with Barcelona, Klopp’s side had somehow managed to claw their way back into the contest. With just 11 minutes of normal time remaining and the aggregate score at 3-3, Alexander-Arnold innocuously placed the ball in the corner quadrant before appearing to walk away and relinquish set-piece duties.

However, in a moment of utter genius the youngster fooled the Barça backline, feinting to pay no interest at all before sharply turning and picking out the unmarked Divock Origi who applied a sublime finish.

Not only did the right-back’s brilliance see Liverpool overcome their toughest hurdle yet on the road to Champions League glory, it signalled the emergence of a superstar. No longer was he just the 'quality right-back with impressive delivery', he was a match-winner – someone who could produce a moment of magic when the club needed it most.

To imply that Alexander-Arnold has reinvented the full-back position would be amiss. Many players before him such as Giacinto Facchetti, Phil Neal, Paolo Maldini and Cafu have adopted a similarly attacking role to the Liverpool youngster.

However, along with Robertson, the England man is making full-backs fashionable and dispelling the stereotype which has gone before them for so many years. He undoubtedly has a stellar career ahead of him and possesses all the qualities and the character needed to be considered among the world’s elite.

“No-one wants to be a Gary Neville” – yep, you’re probably right Carra, but plenty of kids want to be a Trent Alexander-Arnold.


Source : 90min