I have been reading various things regarding why England are struggling, and how Trent, or Foden, or some other guy is the reason, but I think it is clearly a systematic fault.
You cannot have Trent and Rice as a double pivot, because neither of them are press resistant enough. While both are undoubtedly great players with different qualities, I don’t think it is a combination that works well together.
If I were Southgate, I would select either Rice with Mainoo (because Mainoo has the exact press-resistance and line breaking passes that Rice lacks), or play Trent with Wharton (where Wharton can cover up for Trent’s lack of destroying ability and press resistance).
Also, I would not play Gallagher in the 6, because while he does offer something different, I don’t think he is a double pivot player, because he is neither the most expansive passer, nor someone who can break the first press.
Further down, it’s again what do you want from the system. If you are to play someone like Trent, there is no point in sticking him behind a front 4 (apart from Saka), who don’t make runs or drag the opposition where Trent can actually play the passes only he can.
While Foden, and Kane are great they are not the players who make the most incisive runs. Foden is clearly not a left winger, and the problem is exacerbated by the lack of a proper left back (a truly baffling decision to just go with Shaw in the squad), as there is simply no width on the left hand side. Kane also seems to be lacking match sharpness and he seems to be struggling with pressing.
Now moving on from England and coming back to Liverpool, I don’t think it’s a black and white case of whether Trent can or can not play in midfield for us. It’s simply devising a system that can enhance his qualities while hiding his deficiencies. This is exactly what we did when he played as RB (by having a workhorse type midfield) to allow him to do what he does best. When you have a talent like that, any smart manager would try to build his system around that, and thankfully, Klopp knew better than most.
We also have Bradley coming through, who also looks like a genuinely special talent, and someone I would not want to keep on the bench. So, if I were Arne Slot, I would have a double pivot of Macca / Bajcetic and Trent where they offer the press resistance and line breaking ability a team desperately needs at the base of the midfield.
Also, while Trent is not the best defensively, he is not as bad as people make him out to be, and both Macca and Bajcetic are also decent defensively, and together these guys should be able to put in the right amount of defensive effort. Regarding issues with tracking runners sometimes, it’s important to remember that Trent has never really played as a midfielder since his youth days, and he is still learning on the job, and it would obviously take him some time to get used to it.
Finally, I don’t think Trent is suited as a lone No.6 because we would again have the same issues that England are having, unless one of our 8 drops in to assist in the build up, which counteracts against the idea of them playing as an 8 in the first place.
It would be interesting how Slot uses him, and indeed all the others, and what system does he set us up in. Trent is one of the most talented players I have seen since I started watching football, and I would love us to have a system where he can flourish.
Personally I also think that he is good enough to actually build a system around him (as Klopp did in our glory years. At the same time, I recognise this is not what Slot might have in mind and he may go down a different route. It is going to be an interesting few months ahead. Let’s hope it turns out for the best.
Written by thekoparmy June 22 2024 10:21:34
