A week on from officially taking over as Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot will have to wait a few more weeks to start working with his full squad.
More than a dozen Reds players will be involved at either Euro 2024 or the Copa America, both of which finish in mid-July, so it could be nearly the end of next month before the 45-year-old has the bulk of his playing ground on the training pitch.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is among those who’ll be on international duty over the next five weeks, and as highlighted by Andy Jones for The Athletic, the vice-captain’s involvement with England could create a headache for his new club boss.
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The journalist wrote: “The bigger problem Slot may face is a lack of time with Alexander-Arnold before the season begins. It is still unclear whether Slot views the 25-year-old as a right-back or a central midfielder.
“If it is the latter as part of his double pivot, both manager and player will have little choice but to fine-tune the change once the season is underway.”
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Trent’s positional role has been the topic of much debate ever since Jurgen Klopp utilised him as a hybrid full-back/midfielder towards the end of the 2022/23 season.
Given the 25-year-old’s almost unparalled ability on the ball, there’s been an increasing clamour for him to be used in the middle of the park, a viewpoint with which Gareth Southgate demonstrably agrees when looking back at England games over the past year.
With Slot often preferring a 4-2-3-1 formation at Feyenoord, and Conor Bradley emerging as a genuine first-team option at right-back, there’s a distinct possibility that the Liverpool vice-captain could play primarily in midfield next term.
We don’t doubt that Trent could thrive in any role that the new head coach has in mind for him, but as Jones pointed out, the limited window of opportunity before the start of the 2024/25 season could make it challenging for the 45-year-old to nail down exactly what function he wants the number 66 to perform within the team.
Slot may be keeping a very close eye on England’s games at Euro 2024 to see where and how the West Derby native plays, and whether that’ll influence the Reds boss’ thinking ahead of his first campaign in charge at Anfield.
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