FANTASY FOOTBALL
With full-back now a crucial position in the modern game, Liverpool’s Alexander-Arnold is playing...
LIVERPOOL’ S Trent AlexanderArnold is currently first pick among fantasy football players having kept 22 clean sheets, created 12 Premier League assists — plus a legendary one against Barcelona — and scoring for both club and country last season.
The days of full-backs being last pick on the playground or written off as clodhoppers in the professional game are long gone. Today’s Community Shield, with both 20-year-old Alexander-Arnold and Manchester City’s World Cup semi-finalist Kyle Walker at right-back, is living proof.
‘ Every season, full- backs are becoming more and more important,’ says Alexander-Arnold. ‘Look at the best teams in Europe, they have all got top pairings at right and left-back.
‘A lot of the wing play comes from them. It is normally the wingers who go inside, especially in our team at Liverpool. They move more centrally and it is down to the likes of me and Robbo (Andy Robertson) who have to provide the width and balls into the box.
‘Football has changed in that perspective. When you look back 10 years, the wingers’ job was to stay out and cross. It’s different now; full-back is one of the most important positions on the pitch.
‘Not only do you have to get forward, you have to defend as well. If you watch the Champions League final against Tottenham, you’ll see me and Robbo were more reserved because we needed to defend an early lead.
‘It shows we are maturing as players and as a team. A lot is demanded of my position but I think if you are willing to put in the hard work, then you are able to conquer it.’
Listening to the maturity and intelligence with which the rightsided Alexander-Arnold speaks, it is hard to grasp that he doesn’t celebrate his 21st birthday until October. By then he will be on the verge of making his 100th senior appearance for Liverpool and England — a staggering achievement in the modern era for one so young.
The defender admits that Liverpool’s difficult pre-season, including a run of three defeats in four matches, was lifted greatly by a 3-1 victory against Lyon on Wednesday night which also saw the return of key players such as Mo Salah. It puts them in good mood for today’s showpiece at Wembley before kicking off the Premier League campaign against Norwich City at Anfield on Friday night.
‘We were happy to put the defeats behind us, show a bit of last season’s form and get ready to push for the title and silverware,’ he says.
It’s difficult to see how Liverpool can improve on last season when they lost only one league game and yet were still pipped to the title by City. Alexander-Arnold knows the impressive statistics he posted need to continue.
‘Part of being a footballer is gett i ng compared t o ot hers,’ he acknowledges. ‘You’re compared to the rest of the league, the rest of the world, by numbers, by output. Clean sheets, assists. I think you have to take note of where your numbers are and where you want to get to. But it doesn’t mean I banter with friends about fantasy football points!
‘The thought process at Liverpool is always about what you can do to be part of a successful team. Then when the team do well, it reflects on the individual. We are counting on everyone to have good individual seasons.
‘You have chats with the manager about how to look at each game because they are all different. But we know that Liverpool are a worldclass club, what is expected. You need to be excellent on a daily basis otherwise someone else will come in and take your position. I think it is i mportant we have t hat competitive edge in training. Rotations will happen during the season and you need to be ready for that.’
Alexander-Arnold’s famous bluff assist against Barca, moving away from the ball before swinging in a corner for Divock Origi to score, gained him national acclaim after one of the most famous victories in Liverpool’s history.
As the only Scouser in Jurgen Klopp’s first XI — he grew up in West Derby near the club training ground — the team’s success and ecstatic reception on their pre-season tour of America and Europe means that little bit more. The community work he does around Merseyside is unrivalled by any top Premier League player.
‘Before I was involved in the first team hearing stories about Liverpool’ s popularity but I’ve only just realised the magnitude of support,’ he says. ‘It is unlike any other club in the world. I think it’s important for the club to go to places we haven’t really been before to give the fans a chance to see us up close, how we work.’
Alexander-Arnold has already played in two Champions League finals, been part of Liverpool’s most successful Premier League team and gone to a World Cup.
The crazy part is the next nine months promise seven more. If Liverpool can clinch their first league title since 1990, they’ll be remembered forever more.
And the youngster will hope to depose today’s rival Walker for the England right- back spot ahead of Euro 2020 next summer.
With his Liverpool hat on, Alexander-Arnold is ready to go again. ‘The manager has said we are a really good side, nobody wants to play against us and we are still going to get better,’ he says.
‘A lot of us haven’t yet reached the heights we’re going to hit in the next few years. It is an exciting time and those not in the first XI are dying to get in.’