00:00Trent Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool in the summer and was swiftly replaced, or at least in theory.
00:05Positionally, Frimpong came in, but that changed the whole system.
00:08So today I'll be looking at why Trent's departure has impacted Liverpool with the ball,
00:12why Salah is the biggest victim of the system change,
00:15and how Slott can look to fix things in the near future.
00:19I'm Jacob Horsfall, 442's resident tactician,
00:22and this is how Liverpool can replace Trent Alexander-Arnold.
00:29This was Liverpool's line-up last season.
00:31The back four was extremely flat, which meant that they had so many different options to play out from,
00:36and people like Salah could stay high because they didn't have to come back to support Liverpool get out of
00:41pressure.
00:42But they had Trent, and if you didn't know, he's pretty good at football,
00:46especially when the ball's actually at his feet, so he basically dictates build-up for you.
00:51Trent's heat map from last season shows him being everywhere.
00:54At times, he'd be on the outside looking to whip in one of his famous crosses,
00:57and at other times, he'd be in the half-space as the main target for Liverpool to split the opposition's
01:02press with a pass into midfield.
01:04And that was ideal.
01:05It meant that Salah could move pretty much wherever he wanted.
01:08If you wanted to be by the touchline to cut in and shoot,
01:10or if you wanted to drift inside off of his marker's blindside, he could do that.
01:14Basically, just based off where Trent Alexander-Arnold was roaming at that time.
01:18However, the most important part of Trent was certainly that first-phase stuff.
01:23I mean, no other player played as many switches of the ball between 2017 and 2025 in the Premier League
01:29than Trent Alexander-Arnold.
01:30The second closest to him is nearly 200 switches behind him.
01:35If we look at the touch map from Trent versus Newcastle last season,
01:38and compare that to Jeremy Frimpong against Crystal Palace this season,
01:41the difference in where they're taking their touches is outstanding.
01:45Now, that obviously affects everything.
01:48Because not only is Jeremy Frimpong a high-flying full-back,
01:50but the guy who's played more than Jeremy Frimpong, Milos Kerkhez, is also a high-flying full-back.
01:55Both of them, when they're on the pitch at the same time, want to be in the final third.
01:58They want to be causing damage to the opposition.
02:01Which was obviously a plan by Slott to get around losing Trent.
02:04It was to overload the opposition's box, get in there as often as possible,
02:08and play super-aggressive attacking football.
02:10The problem is that more attack often means more losses of the ball,
02:14which is exactly what we've seen at Anfield this season.
02:17Because Trent is no longer in the mid-third,
02:19we are seeing huge, huge distances for the opposition to attack
02:22when Liverpool are caught in transition.
02:24Having full-backs who do want to get in the final third and make an impact can certainly work.
02:29But, when you've also got a midfield who are built on rotations,
02:32and it's now meaning your best player from last season is out of position,
02:36is it really worth it?
02:38Well, for most Salah, no.
02:40It's actually been a disaster.
02:42Salah's heat map against West Ham shows him coming central and deep.
02:45Compare that to last season against Crystal Palace,
02:47and the zones he's playing in have changed entirely.
02:50How many times have we seen Salah cut in and score a goal like this?
02:53Countless.
02:54Potentially even in the hundreds across his career.
02:56But, look at where he is now.
02:59Typically, Salah would like to be here,
03:00so he can cut in and attack that wide space of the opposition's 18-yard box.
03:05Instead, he's here, narrow and actually behind the ball.
03:09But, how does this have anything to do with our mate Trent?
03:12Well, look at where Salah is here.
03:14He's in a 1v1 with a full-back,
03:15and then look at where Trent is in the half space,
03:17which gives Salah an option to pass inside,
03:19but also gives him that time to make a decision on the edge of the opposition's 18-yard box.
03:24And he does that, and he finds a man.
03:26The average positions against Chelsea from last season
03:28show Trent drifting relatively high towards the halfway line,
03:31and a little bit more central.
03:33Whereas Salah, he's nice and high, but he's wider.
03:37He's the widest player on this map,
03:38and he's got plenty of players near him.
03:41The average positions from Man City this season,
03:43well, that shows Salah in Timbuk2,
03:46no one anywhere near him,
03:47and he's not the widest player on the pitch anymore.
03:50And that's because without Trent playing disgusting, disgusting passes,
03:54Salah's job is to now stretch the opposition's defence
03:56to give the midfield time and space to get on the ball,
03:59and then take the ball off the midfield with his back-to-goal.
04:02Now, it does mean that Salah's taken more touches per night this season
04:05than he did last season,
04:07but those touches that he's taken aren't in the positions
04:09he wants to be taking the touches in.
04:11Even Salah's dribbles,
04:12which weren't even his biggest strength when Trent was here,
04:15have drastically declined,
04:16because now he's no longer receiving him behind
04:18and having to beat one man and shoot.
04:20Instead, he's receiving back-to-goal,
04:22isolated, no one to pass to,
04:23and having to try to turn a man,
04:24who is heavy on him, preventing him attacking space.
04:27And this all means that he's having the worst goal-scoring season
04:30of his Liverpool career.
04:33But how does Arnie Slott actually look to fix things?
04:36He lost the Talisman,
04:37one of the best creative and controlling players
04:39in Europe's top five leagues.
04:41Really, no one can compete for what Trent can offer
04:44in his position.
04:45He's one of one, he's unique.
04:47So going and getting a Trent Mark 2,
04:49or a new version of Trent,
04:51or the new shiny model of Trent,
04:54well, that's not possible.
04:55Even though we've seen Dominic Sobbsleid drop out of midfield
04:57and play as a right-back under Arnie Slott this season,
05:00due to Liverpool's injury crisis,
05:02and, you know, it makes sense from a player profile point of view,
05:05he's composed, he's technically gifted,
05:07and he has a sublime passing range,
05:10it's still not quite Trent Alexander-Arnold.
05:13But could it do?
05:14Could that be the solution,
05:15to train Sobbsleid to be a full-time right-back?
05:18Or, do they let Salah leave this summer?
05:21I know, that's controversial.
05:23I know, I know it is.
05:24I know Salah leaving Liverpool is mental.
05:26It would break the internet,
05:27it'll break everything in this room.
05:30I don't know why this room, but it would.
05:31But, is that where Liverpool are going?
05:33If we look at things that have happened this season,
05:35Salah's called out the manager,
05:36Arnie Slott dropped him for a very long period of time.
05:39Maybe Salah's just on his way out from Liverpool now.
05:42On top of that,
05:43someone like Jeremy Frimpong,
05:44being Jeremy Frimpong,
05:46basically deletes Salah's role.
05:48It gets rid of the importance.
05:50A forward, who is a proper forward,
05:52is relatively useless out there,
05:54when you've got a full-back,
05:55who's more of a proper winger.
05:57So Liverpool fans,
05:58I know you've not seen too much of Jeremy Frimpong this season,
06:00but in the long-term future,
06:02would you be interested in keeping Jeremy Frimpong,
06:05letting him do his role,
06:06and getting rid of Mohamed Salah?
06:09I'm expecting a lot of people to say no.
06:11And a lot of people to say yes.
06:13So let me know in the comments.
06:15Another option that Liverpool could go for,
06:17is to admit defeats.
06:18With both Kyrgyz and Frimpong,
06:20being the same type of full-back,
06:22and both looking to be at Liverpool for the long-term future,
06:25and wanting to still be that marauding full-back,
06:28do they just sacrifice one of them?
06:30Get rid of one of them,
06:31potentially Jeremy Frimpong,
06:32with the way he's not played too many games this season,
06:35and go and get a third centre-back profile.
06:37Because they've suffered without the ball a lot this season,
06:39at this stage of the season, they've already conceded 37 league goals.
06:43Now, if we go back to where we were last season,
06:45at the end of the season,
06:46they'd only conceded 41.
06:48So if you go and get a third centre-back,
06:50it kind of transforms the way that Liverpool look out of possession.
06:52It would allow one of the full-backs to still bomb forward,
06:55but you would then have two central defenders,
06:57capable of stepping out,
06:58and managing the wide-channel spaces,
07:01that are being targeted by opposition teams,
07:03when they catch Liverpool on the break.
07:04And maybe that's the thinking,
07:05with Jeremy Jacquet coming in,
07:06because he's played in a back three,
07:08which obviously isn't the same as the back four
07:10that Liverpool will be looking for,
07:11but he's played on both sides of the defence.
07:13He's aggressive, he reads the game well.
07:15Jeremy Jacquet slotting in here,
07:17would allow for one of the full-backs
07:19to still bomb forward,
07:21and Liverpool to have a lot more control,
07:24without the ball.
07:25It would be a tough decision though,
07:26because we've only seen Frimpong start six Premier League games this season,
07:29and Kurt Gehrs has started 23,
07:31and he's been up and down in his performance,
07:32but we know that these players from where they were at their old clubs,
07:35have the potential to be so, so valuable,
07:37in a team that do prioritise,
07:39that attacking, full-frontal, aggressive intent.
07:42We've just not quite seen it yet.
07:44But in the modern-day basketball game of football,
07:47there is something there.
07:48I don't envy slot in any way,
07:51for trying to come to a solution or a decision here.
07:53Because no matter what happens,
07:55no matter what paper is thrown over the cracks,
07:57whatever you want to do,
07:59Liverpool aren't going to get another Trent.
08:01They're not going to get someone who completely fills that void.
08:04It's just not possible.
08:06So here's my final option.
08:08Get Trent back.
08:10Who says no?
08:12Get Trent back on Merseyside.
08:14Who disagrees?
08:16Again, let me know in the comments,
08:17because I feel there'll be a few people that do disagree.
08:20But that's it from me for today's video.
08:22If you have enjoyed, do leave a like and subscribe.
08:24We'll be back again next Wednesday,
08:25to give you more tactical insight,
08:27on the greatest minds in the Premier League.
08:29And I guess I'll see you all later in a bit.
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