The clock was referring to the 78th minute of the match, and Liverpool was achieving the return of another European Rimontada against Barcelona during the second leg for the 2019 Champions League semi -finals. Alexander Arnold was preparing to carry out a corner kick, and saw that the Barcelona defense line was moving slowly and completely ready, so he took the opportunity and quickly passed the ball to Davok Origi, who put the ball inside. Liverpool has completed one of its greatest surprises in the Champions League, and qualified for the final match to beat Tottenham and crowns its sixth European title. Alexander Arnold was twenty years old, but he established his position and wrote his name in letters of light in the history of Liverpool.
In the years after that, the English international right -back continued to achieve successes, as it led Liverpool to win two Premier League titles, and reached the Champions League final again in 2022, and Liverpool was largely one of the best clubs in Europe since the late first decade of the twenty -first century. Alexander Arnold – according to Mohamed Mohamed on the “ESPN” website – was a major reason for this great success, as he ranked third in the list of the best playmakers in the Premier League during the period from 2018 to last season. Alexander Arnold succeeded in resolving many matches thanks to his ability to be creative, whether from open or even fixed balls.
In fact, we must admit that Alexander Arnold does not come much in the world of football, and that Liverpool has benefited from this outstanding talent for nearly a decade. But this is no longer the case now, as Alexander Arnold left the Reds after the end of his contract to take a new challenge with Real Madrid. The Club World Cup, in which the Spanish giant was subjected to a humiliating defeat against Paris Saint -Germain in the semi -finals, was the start of a new chapter in the march of the English international star, and we have seen an early overview of what the player in the Spanish Premier League could offer. But before predicting what may happen next season and beyond, it is important to first review Alexander Arnold until he reached this point.
The first days under the leadership of Klopp
Liverpool was the first version of German coach Juergen Klopp, completely different from the version that achieved great success after that. At that time, Liverpool was playing what could be described as “heavy football”, which relied on the continuous pressure on the opponent all the time and an attempt to strangle the opponent after extracting the ball and preventing counterattacks, which is the way Klopp succeeded in leading Borussia Dortmund to win the German Premier League title. With Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool in the first period under the leadership of Klopp, the rapid shift from the defense of the attack was very important to create good opportunities to register. Klopp himself described the high and continuous pressure on the opponent as “the best game maker.”
Play in this way led to some wonderful and exciting victories in the English Premier League: beating Manchester City in the 2015-2016 season, and the exciting victory with five goals against four against Norwich City, and winning two goals against Arsenal in the 2016-2017 season, in addition to some overwhelming victories in the first 18 months of Club.
The negative aspect of playing in this way appeared when Liverpool played in front of teams that depend on the defensive bloc, which made the results more varied. In spite of all the successes of Liverpool, there were also many cases of inability to penetrate the defenses in the league against clubs that did not allow the presence of large areas where Liverpool stars move in offensive aspects. This led to the loss of many points throughout the season. In order for Liverpool to develop and turn from a brave team that suffers from some defects into a great team, it was necessary to develop both players and tactical plans.
The effect of Alexander Arnold
The remaining period of the first decade of the twenty -first century witnessed a remarkable improvement in the Liverpool attack line, thanks to this to a large extent to the smart contracts concluded by the club, where the club contracted with talented players for a relatively low material fee, such as Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah. The contract with Andrew Robertson from Hull City in the summer of 2017 also led to the development of the team’s performance immediately, as the Scotland player participated in the starting lineup of the Reds regularly in both the league and the Champions League. Alexander Arnold was escalated from the Junior Club Academy to play a lot of minutes immediately, which is rare. If we collect all of this together, we will get the backbone of what is eventually one of the best attack lines in European football.
In addition to new contracts, Liverpool changed the way of playing. In order for the capabilities and capabilities of Mane and Salah to be optimized, Robertson and Alexander Arnold became two prominent elements in the Liverpool attack line, where they were rushing forward all the time and they were playing two wings in an attack line consisting of five players when the team acquired the ball in the half -stadium of the opponent. The midfield – which included players such as Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Georginho Venaldum – covered the empty spaces, not to mention the presence of a wonderful defender who only comes only every generation, Virgil Van Dyck. The team continued to play this way during the period between 2018 and 2020 seasons, before Tiago Alcantara joined the midfield to play a greater role in the team’s attack during the period from 2021 to 2023.
In fact, Alexander Arnold is one of the best players in the English Premier League history in terms of fine passes and elaborate cross balls. Among the most prominent players whose names come to mind in this regard are English star David Beckham during his time with Manchester United and Kevin de Bruyne with Manchester City. But Alexander Arnold was more than just a defender sending cross balls, as he has the super ability to send Qatari balls that can confuse any competitor. Although he was a back, it was a constant threat regarding the sending of elaborate intra -balls as if he were a talented midfielder.
The period from 2019 to 2022 witnessed an ideal mix between Alexander Arnold’s unique skills group and the Liverpool attack line, which was very difficult to predict what he would do at that time. With the end of the 2022-2023 season, an interesting pattern appeared. Liverpool was suffering from a decline in the level compared to previous seasons, and eventually failed to qualify for the Champions League – something that has not happened since the appointment of Klopp in October 2015.
Play under Slow
Liverpool’s performance under the leadership of Dutch coach Arney Slot last season was somewhat different from what the team was presenting under the leadership of Klopp. The Ryan Gravinberch, Alexis Mac Alecter, and Dominic Subosli, a tremendous change from what Liverpool was in previous years. This had an indirect impact, as Alexander Arnold’s offensive talents were exploited less, and therefore it was not the focus of creative performance in the same way it was during the previous seasons. His numbers declined significantly, as other players in the team took more responsibilities. Alexander Arnold played cautiously, in line with the new gameplay.
And if the new playing method under Slowte does not depend much on Alexander Arnold in offensive aspects, it helped alleviate his defensive faults. In fact, Alexander Arnold was not a strong defense player for multiple reasons, including his weakness in bilateral confrontations, and his weakness in the event of not acquiring the ball. But the presence of a greater number of players behind the ball while building the attack, and Liverpool’s dependence mainly on a 4-2-4 method in the case of acquisition, contributed to alleviating the defensive defects of Alexander Arnold.
A new challenge in Spain
As soon as it turned out that Alexander Arnold would move to Real Madrid, a great controversy has raised how he adapted to the way the royal club played. This was particularly evident after Xabi Alonso assumed the technical leadership of the team. What we knew from the period that Alonso spent with Bayer Leverkusen is his insistence on his team’s control of the matches, not through his strict commitment to the squad or team structure, but through clear principles, whether during the acquisition of the ball or its loss. Hence, the Spanish coach is working to exploit all the skills available to his players in order to be able to solve the problems he faces for the 90 -minute.
Vinicius Junior and Killian Mbappe features one of the best players in the world with regard to penetration of the defense lines that depend on an advanced defense line, through their super speed and movements in empty spaces. They can take advantage of the long air balls sent to them. In the event that Alexander Arnold advances forward to carry out his offensive duties, Federico Valverde can help defensive coverage thanks to his abundant effort.
The Club World Cup has given a very early look at the role that Alexander Arnold can play with Real Madrid. There were some embarrassing moments during the early stages of building attacks, including Alexander Arnold’s inability to receive the ball well and his back to the goal. He also made a mistake in the short front passes as he advanced to help build attacks.
This does not mean that there were no good moments for him during the Club World Cup, where he sent some of the elaborate crosses during the match that Real Madrid beat Red Paul Salzburg in the group stage, and he also made the winning goal against Juventus in the round of sixteen. But it must be noted that we are talking here about a few matches during a championship held before the start of the new season, so it is very difficult to referee things through this.
0 Comments