Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp could have his Premier League rival to thanks for the rebirth of Trent Alexander-Arnold, which was on full display again during the 6-1 win at Leeds United earlier this week. Klopp’s side have struggled in midfield this season resulting in them languishing eighth in the Premier League heading into the final eight matches.
However, after a dreadful season by Liverpool’s high standards a second-half fightback to draw 2-2 with Arsenal has been followed by them impressing against Leeds. Analysts noticed a newly-adopted 3-2-5 system being used which catapulted Liverpool up the field at Elland Road using inverted full-backs.
As part of the new system, Liverpool defend in their traditional 4-3-3, but when in possession, Alexander-Arnold came into midfield while Andy Robertson provided defensive support. The new 3-2-5 in-possession system allows Liverpool to exploit their strength on the right with Alexander-Arnold sitting deep in midfield and feeding the likes of Mohamed Salah further forward.
England international Alexander-Arnold is given the freedom to roam in the new 3-2-5 system which sees Klopp take the shackles off his team. Liverpool’s new system opened up Leeds and resulted in Alexander-Arnold having a clear pass to create opportunities for Salah.
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Coming up with the new role for Alexander-Arnold, the Liverpool boss may have taken inspiration from Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola who came up with a similar tactic for Philipp Lahm while managing Bayern Munich. On arrival at Bayern the now City manager introduced a possession-based football system with traditional full-back Lahm introduced into midfield to create a fluid system.
Guardiola led Bayern to three consecutive Bundesliga titles before moving to England and taking control of City, where he has had similar success with full-backs in central roles with the likes of Joao Cancelo and John Stones. The former Barcelona head coach was applauded for bringing Lahm into the midfield areas as a forward sweeper and capitalising on a pocket of space generated by the new system.
Liverpool have handed out some heavy beatings this season by defeated Bournemouth 9-0, Rangers 7-1 and Manchester United 7-0, but have struggled to keep any consistency. But Klopp was left impressed by the way his team counter-pressed during their win at Leeds using their new 3-2-5 system.
He said: “From a counter-pressing view it was the best game we played this season; in possession too. We have played a super bad season but when we put in good performances we can understand what is possible. I just want us to play top football and we will see where we end up.”
And he’ll hope Alexander-Arnold in more central areas can ensure Liverpool do indeed keep playing high-quality football more consistently, just as Lahm did at Bayern.
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