Arne Slot has no issue making Trent Alexander-Arnold change despite Gary Neville belief

Arne Slot showed he has no issue making changes to Trent Alexander-Arnold's game despite Gary Neville's belief.

The Dutchman moved the right-back into a more forward midfield position for the final 30 minutes of Liverpool's defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, hoping the England international may be able to influence play in a more positive way as the Reds pushed on for an equalizer.

As it happened, things didn't quite go to plan and Alexander-Arnold was largely ineffective in his midfield role, with the visitors holding out for a 1-0 victory to condemn Liverpool and Slot to a first defeat of the season.

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But despite the shock result at the hands of Nuno Espirito Santo's side, one of the main takeaways was Slot's willingness to make the change involving Alexander-Arnold, playing him out of position in the hope it would help the team avoid defeat.

Rather than substitute him for Conor Bradley as he has done in the last three games, Slot instead played both of them on the field at the same time. Bradley held down his usual role at right-back, allowing Alexander-Arnold to play in midfield.

Jurgen Klopp also experimented in the same way, although ultimately decided against using the 25-year-old as a midfielder after deciding he was better suited at right-back. Gareth Southgate, however, did the opposite for England at Euro 2024, yet Alexander-Arnold struggled in a central midfield role in Germany.

But perhaps it's no surprise Slot used the academy graduate in a midfield role, having been full of praise for his ability to fulfill both roles for club and country last season. Prior to the season opener against Ipswich last month, the Dutchman said: “I think he’s capable of playing both positions really good, and then it’s up to me where I think he could help the team the most.”

At the same time, however, Neville highlighted Alexander-Arnold's ability to play so well at right-back was because he couldn't hold his own in midfield. The defender notably struggled for England at the European Championships and this only backed up the Manchester United legend's belief.

"What Jurgen Klopp's done at Liverpool is find a way to get him into midfield from right back,” Neville said on ITV. “Look there’s no doubt if you’re good enough to play in midfield all the time, you would play in midfield.

“The reason you were right back is because basically you’ve been shoved back there from being either a wide player or a midfield player at some point in your life and you’ve not been good enough. So where you saw Trent struggle a couple of times there was when it was tight and with his back to play.

"To receive the ball with back to play is the hardest thing in football in midfield. We don't do it well as full-backs, not even Trent, who's unbelievable on the ball. He's uncomfortable in that position.”

Despite this, Slot has stuck with his belief that Alexander-Arnold can play in midfield and that shone through today when he opted to push him forward into a more advanced role. While it didn't pay dividends against Nottingham Forest, it doesn't mean it won't in the future.

With this in mind, it probably won't be the last we see of the Liverpool star in this position, especially considering his ability to pick a pass out from anywhere on the pitch and get himself into dangerous crossing positions.