Jurgen Klopp has insisted Trent Alexander-Arnold will play in whatever position best suits Liverpool after he excelled both at right-back and in midfield.
The England international has shown himself equally adept in both roles and scored a dramatic stoppage time winner as Liverpool beat Fulham in a 4-3 thriller on Sunday.
Alexander-Arnold also delivered the superb free-kick which bounced in off Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno’s back for Liverpool’s opening goal at Anfield.
Klopp, speaking ahead of the Reds’ visit to Sheffield United on Wednesday, refused to be drawn into a debate over Alexander-Arnold’s strongest position.
He said the 25-year-old is perfectly happy fitting into the team wherever he is needed.
Jurgen Klopp has refused to give a definitive answer in the debate over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s strongest position
Alexander-Arnold scored a dramatic late winner as Liverpool beat Fulham 4-3 on Sunday
A delighted Klopp after Liverpool stayed in touch with the leaders after the seven-goal thriller
‘Trent can play in midfield, we always knew that. Trent can play the role we gave him very well as well. That’s how it is, we will see,’ Klopp said.
‘If he wants to be good, he has to be influential in all different areas because it just makes us better if he plays a good game. But he obviously did in the last game.
‘It’s always this very unpleasant trying to create headlines. Watch the games and discuss it yourself. We play him where we think it’s best for him, then people say ‘he has to play here, he has to play there’.
‘He became one of the most successful players in the history of Liverpool FC, in their recent history, playing a right-back. He became a Premier League player as a right-back.
‘So he can play more inside, definitely. He will play wherever is best for us, that’s just how it is.
‘I am not stubborn, not playing him in midfield or whatever, I am not part of the discussion. You can discuss it as much as you want, it will not have any influence.
‘We have to make decisions for what is best for the team and Trent, by the way, sees it exactly the same way.
‘He wants to play and, from my point of view, he has to be influential and we have to make sure we help him with the positioning.’
Meanwhile, Klopp admitted the Blades’ decision to sack Paul Heckingbottom and bring back Chris Wilder means his staff’s pre-match analysis might as well be binned.
Asked whether the managerial change at Bramall Lane will impact Wednesday night’s game, the German said: ‘How can I know that? I remember the way Sheffield United played under Chris Wilder with underlapping wing-backs and stuff like this.
Sheffield United have sacked manager Paul Heckingbottom after their disastrous 5-0 loss at Burnley on Saturday afternoon
Chris Wilder has returned as manager of Sheffield United to replace Heckingbottom
‘That is one part of it. He probably now has a press conference now, then training after that, maybe another session tomorrow morning. We can bin our analysis.
‘Somebody told me it might happen. We will see, we have to focus on ourselves, I don’t think he can change too much in that short period. We don’t have to think about it too much.
‘We have to prepare for a football game, we play teams with five at the back, 5-3-2, 5-4-1, quite frequently to be honest so we have to give them a proper job to think about.
‘I understand that when a new manager comes in, we start getting confused but we can play in different ways.
‘As much as I am happy for Chris to be back in a job at his club, he has to think about us then he must be ‘oh my God, they come from everywhere.’ But the game will be played tomorrow and not in the press conference.’
