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The Dutchman had a proven track record having won the Eredivisie and Dutch Cup with Feyenoord, but Liverpool still looked like a big step up.

But over the season, Slot has shown just how tactically sound he is.

As the campaign has progressed, Alexander-Arnold has not been seen in his previous midfield role at all.



Now, Slot has explained exactly why that is.

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Rewind to the start of Slot’s time at Liverpool, and there was a big question over whether Alexander-Arnold would be used as a midfielder.

The Scouser had just come off the back of an unsuccessful Euro 2024 with England where Gareth Southgate tried and failed to get the best out of him in the middle of the pitch.

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Jurgen Klopp had often used Alexander-Arnold in midfield as well.

The right-back drifting in to play centrally had become one of the real features of Klopp’s last 18 months at Liverpool.

However, Slot clearly sees Alexander-Arnold as a full-back.

Speaking to Men In Blazers this week, he has claimed that employing the 26-year-old in midfield this season was his biggest mistake at Liverpool so far.

READ MORE: Arne Slot offers fresh suggestion as to why Harvey Elliott and other Liverpool players have barely played this season

“I do remember when we lost against Forest at home, in the last 20 or 25 minutes I played Trent in the midfield,” said the Liverpool head coach when asked if he’d have done anything differently this season.

“At that moment in time I felt he could maybe be an attacking midfielder, one of the two eights, which wasn’t a big success in that moment and I never did it afterwards again.

Us losing against Forest did not have that much to do with Trent playing in midfield but it was not something I did too frequently afterwards.”

It says so much about how successful Slot’s tactics have been at Liverpool that this is barely mentioned at all anymore.

For plenty of the two years before Slot’s arrival, the topic of where Alexander-Arnold should be playing had never been too far away.