Who could replace Trent Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s leadership group?

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Trent Alexander-Arnold marked his return from injury with the winning goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Leicester on Sunday, moving them to the brink of the Premier League title.

While Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk’s contract situations are now resolved, Alexander-Arnold is expected to join Real Madrid when his contract ends in June.

Losing him would mean more than parting ways with one of the world’s best right-backs and one of the club’s greatest homegrown talents. It would also mean losing their vice-captain and a player previously touted to take the armband permanently in the future.

On the latest episode of ‘Walk On’, Tony Evans, Simon Hughes, and Andy Jones discussed which player could step into a leadership role if Alexander-Arnold were to leave Liverpool this summer.

This partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available via the Walk On feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Tony: What does Trent’s potential departure mean for the leadership group, Simon? He’s the vice-captain, and when you take him out of the equation, you’ve got Van Dijk, who is the leader, and you’ve got Salah, who leads by example, but isn’t necessarily a captain. Who is going to fill that leadership role?

Simon: That’s a really good question, and there hasn’t been much discussion about it…

Tony: That’s why we’re a better podcast to listen to than anyone else (laughs).

Simon: At the moment, Trent is vice-captain and the other members of this leadership group, which is a very modern term in football, are Alisson and Andy Robertson.

Now with Robertson, there are a few question marks around his presence in the starting XI, as evidenced by the fact that Kostas Tsimikas started against Leicester and the last two league games as Liverpool are trying to close in on the title. Ordinarily, you’d expect somebody who’s going to start most games to step up and become the vice-captain.

So on that basis, you’re probably thinking Salah (to become vice-captain). They’ve given him a big new contract, and they don’t do that unless they think he’s going to play a lot, and he doesn’t miss many games through injury.

Alisson is a highly respected figure in the dressing room, and altogether a very different personality, but he does miss games as well, so I wonder whether that would count against him. There are also a few newer, slightly younger players. They might push Alexis Mac Allister into that group.

Tony: Szoboszlai is the captain of Hungary. What about him?

Simon: He still frustrates me a bit, but that’s just my opinion. It’s a fair point, though, because he is the captain of Hungary. But I suppose he’s the best player, and it seems to me he’s been given that captaincy off the back of being the best player first and foremost, but I might be wrong.

There’s not really anyone you’re thinking could jump straight into that area. I’ve got to say with Curtis Jones, I thought it was quite interesting that Slot brought Harvey Elliott on first against Leicester. Because he’s got to be thinking now, ‘I’m going to be the main local lad,’ and that entails more responsibility. He’s getting to his mid-twenties now, and I’d expect him to kick on in terms of taking on more responsibility. You’re seeing him do more interviews and talking with a bit more authority, which is a good thing.

Mac Allister is a World Cup winner with a lot of experience now and plays every week. I would be trying to push him into that area because he’s a subtle but determined presence in the dressing room, and you see that on the pitch. There might even be somebody they sign who they might elevate, that does happen from time to time.

But one thing Slot certainly seems to be in favour of is longevity. He doesn’t seem to like radical change. Maybe it’s just because he realised he inherited a decent side that could have a go this season. He was used to a lot of change at Feyenoord. He was losing players left, right and centre. But if I remember correctly, the captain for his team at Feyenoord was Gernot Trauner, a big Austrian centre half. It wasn’t the big star player, it was the big fella at the back who basically ordered everyone around.

Tony: Andy, would you keep someone like Endo around because he’s the captain of Japan? While he won’t be on the pitch, one of the problems when looking at leadership on the pitch and vice-captains is that there are a lot of players who are not certain of their place in the team, even Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones, and you do need experience.

In the past, James Milner’s playing time was really limited, but he was a positive presence around the place. Is there a case for keeping someone like Endo around? Considering he can also slot into the back four if needed?

Andy: Slot has gone out of his way on countless occasions this season to bring up Endo. Or when he’s been asked about Endo, he’s always praised him to the hills and been really positive about him and his attitude. I think Endo knows his place in the squad, and knows that 10 to 15 minutes max is probably what he’s going to get. Unless it’s a heavily rotated side in the cup or something like that. And for a player to have the right attitude is really important because the last thing you want is disruptors, so there’s a case to keep him around.

I would like Liverpool to buy a midfielder in the summer who is quite versatile and can play several different roles. You do need to upgrade on Endo because you need someone who can play more than 15 minutes at the end of matches and can be thought of as someone who can start in a Premier League game, and it doesn’t feel like Endo is that.

There is a case to keep Endo around, but obviously the problem is that if you bring in a midfielder, that bumps him further down the pecking order. Then it’s a question of: ‘Is he making the bench on certain weeks if the squad is strong and everyone’s fit?’ That can have a knock-on effect on players and stuff like that. I doubt it would necessarily be for him because I think he’s the type of player who knows where he stands in the squad.

But it will be an interesting one because they’re the type of characters you want around the group all the time. His professionalism is something that is praised all the time, and ultimately, if you’ve got people around there who are pointing people in the right direction, you’re going to have a squad that remains united and remains pressing forward in the right way.

You can listen to full episodes of Walk On for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

(Top Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

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