Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

20.3 C
Cheshire
Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Alexander-Arnold studying Stones to help adapt to ‘hybrid’ role

Trent Alexander-Arnold has pointed to England team-mate John Stones as a player he watches to help him adjust to his new “hybrid” role.

Alexander-Arnold broke through at Liverpool as a right-back and has since become renowned for his ability on the ball, offering a real creative threat despite being a defender.

But of late, the 25-year-old has been deployed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in a hybrid role, allowing Alexander-Arnold to step into midfield and give him even more licence to get forward and hurt the opposition.

His transition has mirrored that of Stones, who has been utilised himself by Pep Guardiola in a more diverse role, to great effect too with Manchester City winning a historic treble last season with Stones a key part of that success.

Speaking after Liverpool’s 3-0 home win over Brentford on Sunday, one that moved the Reds to within a point of Stones’ City at the Premier League summit, Alexander-Arnold revealed his England team-mate is a player he watches to aid his growth in the new role.

“I enjoy learning about the game,” Alexander-Arnold said ahead of meeting up with England for the November international break. “Watching things, watching players, different systems, different teams, how different players play it. There are some players who play it really well.

“I think as someone who plays the inverted, hybrid role – I don’t know what people call it these days – then it is obviously John Stones.

“He is someone who, for a long time, I have admired his game. He is exceptional, so I watch him a lot – clips or even when I am just watching City’s games, I will sit and focus on him.


“I have always admired him and I admire the way [Stones’ City team-mate] Rodri plays.

“He is pivotal in that team and someone who is massively underrated but like we have seen recently, when you take him out of the team, they are not the same. That just shows how important he is.”

Alexander-Arnold has started in midfield for England on a number of occasions and is listed as a midfielder when squads are announced. He has struggled to get playing time as a right-back for the Three Lions, with Southgate often preferring to play the likes of Reece James and Kyle Walker.

Alexander-Arnold is enjoying the slightly different role he is asked to play with England, adding: “The conversations I have had with the [England] manager and the staff there, I go there as a midfielder, I train there and that is where I try and play on the pitch.

“It really does help me in that sense. I am not playing midfield week in, week out here but I am getting on the ball in central areas, and knowing how to receive and conduct yourself and play a game in midfield is a lot different to at the side of the pitch.

“I think when the ball advances up the pitch it becomes more about protection and stopping counter-attacks. It is more disciplined.

“I think the way I see it and the way I am told and explained to play it [at Liverpool], it is almost when we have the ball I am a midfielder and when we don’t have the ball I am a right-back.”

spot_imgspot_img

Latest

Cheshire College launches preparation podcast for new students

Cheshire College has announced the launch of its exclusive...

Tim Parry Jonathan Ball Foundation set to become grant making organisation

A Foundation set up in memory of two boys killed in...

438 Marketing celebrates 20th year with revenue jump and client wins

Independent brand communications agency 438 Marketing is celebrating 20 years of...
spot_imgspot_img

Newsletter

Don't miss

£4 million funding will ‘help keep Cheshire communities’ safer

Cheshire Constabulary will receive £4 million to help tackle...

Coauthor Webinar to Explore Threat Modelling as Key to SaMD Cybersecurity

Coauthor, the trusted compliance tool for medical software teams,...

Magical new ‘Land of Oz’ opens at Gulliver’s World

Visitors to Gulliver’s World will be transported to the...

Transport DVLA bans more than 500 new number plates

A Freedom of Information request made by private plate...

More News

Joe Fraser Opens Innovative Gymnastics Club in Lichfield with Support from LoveAdmin

Olympic gymnast and World Champion Joe Fraser has officially launched a brand-new gymnastics club in Lichfield, joining forces with technology provider LoveAdmin to deliver...

Liverpool FC freeze season ticket prices for 2025/26

Liverpool FC will freeze general admission and season ticket prices for the 2025/26 season. The club held engagement discussions with its official Supporters Board on...

Luke ‘The Nuke’ celebrates Worlds Darts win with 24-carat gold phone

Darts superstar Luke ‘The Nuke’ Littler has marked his World Darts Championship triumph by awarding himself a bespoke 24-carat gold iPhone 16 Pro Max,...