‘All of a sudden’: Jurgen Klopp says 24-year-old Liverpool player’s defending has improved so much lately

Jurgen Klopp thinks Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defending has improved recently, but also praised his side for defending better as a team. 

Liverpool picked up another win over West Ham last night thanks to goals from Cody Gakpo and Joel Matip. 

The Reds have now picked up three wins on the bounce and find themselves six points off the top-four, having played less games than both Manchester United and Newcastle. 

Nevertheless, there is still an outside chance that Jurgen Klopp’s men could put a run together and push for a Champions League spot. 

And after picking up a 2-1 win at the London Stadium last night, Klopp told BT Sport that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s defending has improved recently. 

Photo by Ivan Yordanov/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Klopp on Trent 

Alexander-Arnold has thrived in recent weeks thanks to a tactical tweak from Klopp. 

The 24-year-old has been allowed the freedom to drift into midfield while Liverpool have the ball and operate as an inverted full-back. 

He picked up another assist last night as he set-up Cody Gakpo, bringing his total to five in his last four appearances. 

And despite his improvement in the final third, Klopp feels the full-back has made great strides in the defensive side of his game during this period. 

Speaking on BT Sport after last night’s game, Joe Cole asked Klopp about Trent’s quality on the ball and his ability to find his teammates. 

“Yeah it is, but that’s one thing,” the Liverpool boss responded. “We always knew that he was a sensational football player so now in this set-up he can do it like that. 

“You spoke a lot this season that he cannot defend that position, now he can defend that position all of a sudden because we defend in general better. 

“When you are not in possession, there will always be moments where you lose possession and in the best case you win the ball back, if that doesn’t happen then there might be a bit of tricky moments that’s how it is. 

“But we have five players behind the ball, there were moments where we won it back immediately so they didn’t even get into a counter-attacking situation and then Trent can go again from there.” 

Photo by Ivan Yordanov/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It’s fair to say that Alexander-Arnold has received plenty of criticism this season due to the defensive side of his game. 

But the Liverpool star has certainly benefited from a slight change in his role, while he has also been more protected due to his side’s improved defensive performances. 

Klopp will be delighted that Alexander-Arnold seems to be rediscovering his best form and that is largely down to his tactical tweak.

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