Jurgen Klopp is keen to be omitted from any more debates about Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best position.
The Liverpool produced vice-captain, who is a right-back by trade, again starred in midfield in the thrilling 4-3 home win over Fulham last weekend.
With the Reds struggling at home to the Cottagers, Klopp opted to bring on defender Joe Gomez in the 65th minute to allow Alexander-Arnold to move up to midfield, and chaos followed.
Fulham later took the lead with ten minutes to play, before Wataru Endo equalised, and then Alexander-Arnold won the match with a goal from the edge of the box.
It may not have been the most fluid of Liverpool performances, but the stats don’t lie: since Klopp began playing his no.66 in a hybrid role in April, they’ve only lost once in 24 matches with the help of a VAR failure against Tottenham.
However, when Alexander-Arnold’s evolution was brought up and his long-term potential in midfield was questioned, Klopp wasn’t happy to get involved during his press conference.
“It’s always these very unpleasant attempts to try and create headlines,” he said.
“Watch the games and discuss it without me. We play where we think it’s best for him and then people say, ‘he has to play there or he has to play there’.
“He became one of the most successful players in the history of Liverpool playing at right-back, he became a Premier League player as a right-back.
“He can play more inside, definitely, so he will play wherever he plays best for us, and that’s just how it is.”
But it’s hard not to talk about the star vice captain
Alexander-Arnold has been operating almost exclusively in midfield for England in 2023, and that came after Klopp said he ‘didn’t understand’ why people wanted to make ‘the best right back in the World a midfielder’.
Re-addressing those thoughts, he commented: “I’m not stubborn and don’t want to play him in midfield, not at all, but I’m not part of the discussion.
“You can discuss as much as you want, really, but it will not have any influence, we still have to make decisions on what’s best for the team and Trent sees it exactly the same way.
“He wants to play, and from my point of view he has to be influential and we have to make sure we help him with the position, that’s all.”
