Jed wrote:
If Alexander-Arnold played for us, you'd absolutely love him mate.
I think I'm objective about Alexander-Arnold's game. Why wouldn't I be? I have nothing against him personally. I think Andy Robertson, for example, is one of the very best LBs in Europe currently.
I feel the need to defend myself here and to show I'm not just trotting out a load of ill-informed nonsense based on a bias against the kid. I've watched him 10-15 times this season and I have a good idea of what he's good at and what he's not:
• He's a rank bad defender. Genuinely dire. I could elaborate but I've said it all in previous posts. Equating he and Robertson's defensive game is just not accurate.
• His crossing is good not great: he gets good action on the ball but struggles to get power and too often overhits crosses. Espeically when trying to cross on the run.
• He delivers a mean dead ball (which is where most of his assists come from, so comparisons with Robertson's assists total are misleading). He's not a good athlete and his balance isn't great so he's much better with static delivery.
• His forward passing is his best asset. He can see a pass: he's always on the look out, like a creative CM, and he has the ability to play a variety of different passes.
• His touch is poor in tight areas and he's a poor dribbler. Rarely ever beats his man one-v-one. The first part is why I think he's not played in centre midfield.
• He struggles on the overlap because he doesn't have a great engine and is no better than average in terms of speed and athleticism.
All just my opinion of course, but he's not a good right back. He would get eaten alive if he played for a team that wasn't as good as Liverpool, and he's by far where they're most vulnerable. Perhaps his excellent set-piece delivery somewhat makes up for his shortcomings? It works for them most of the time. And they leave him out when it won't. The same way Milner works at left/right back, Henderson does his job in midfield, or Origi up front last night. It doesn't mean these players are individually outstanding in the role they play, but it works as part of a balanced, functioning team.
