Exclusive: John Barnes Assesses Liverpool’s Stalemate Against Manchester City

Following on from Liverpool’s tightly contested 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the weekend, Liverpool find themselves back in action this Thursday when they take on LASK at Anfield. We caught up with Liverpool legend John Barnes who shared his thoughts on Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best position, the future of Harvey Elliott and Darwin Nunez’s season so far.

In this article:

• Trent’s best position remains as a right back
• Elliott struggling to find his home at Anfield
• Stop putting pressure on Elliott
• Nunez gives “100%, commitment, determination, drive.”

Trent’s Best Position Remains As A Right Back

One of the major talking points from this weekend’s match was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance, encompassing both positives and negatives. Trent, renowned as one of the world’s top creative footballers, dazzles with his exceptional right foot. His ability to deliver precise passes often surprises teammates, with the ball arriving perfectly at their feet or into an optimal space for attack.
However, during the weekend’s game, despite scoring a goal that led to a draw, Trent faced significant challenges from league newcomer Jeremy Doku, who persistently attacked him. Barnes argues that although Trent scored while playing a hybrid right back/central midfielder role, he excels most as a traditional right back.

“I still believe that Trent is more effective when he plays at right back. When you look at the crosses that he delivers and the goal threatening opportunities he creates from a right back position.

“When he comes into midfield he does make a few good passes forward and great crosses in areas but I think Liverpool needed that extra quality last season. This season when you look at the quality that we’ve brought in it’s not as necessary.

“The downside is unless you’re going to keep possession it’s difficult for Trent to get back into position. The centre back is then forced into the right back area and we can get caught short.

“Arsenal do it with Zinchenko and City do it with Stones and Lewis because they don’t lose the ball. Liverpool are still tinkering with it.”

Elliott Struggling To Find His Home At Anfield

Harvey Elliott, who recently scored twice for England’s U21 team, is a regular in their lineup but has struggled to secure a consistent spot in Liverpool’s first team. Currently, he seems to be lower in the hierarchy among Liverpool’s midfielders and forwards. Initially emerging as a winger at Blackburn, Elliott has primarily been deployed as a midfielder by Liverpool’s manager, Jurgen Klopp. Despite this, he has not yet firmly established himself in Liverpool’s starting eleven. However, Barnes remains unbothered by Elliott’s situation, asserting that he remains a vital part of the Liverpool squad.

“Elliott is an important player for the Liverpool first team. He plays regularly even if he’s coming off the bench.

“Will he play as one of the three midfield players? Ahead of Gravenberch, Szoboszlai or Mac Allister? Or even Bajcetic. That’s not the case.

“Will he play ahead of Salah, Nunez, Diaz, Jota or Gakpo? The answer is no. I can’t see him playing ahead of any of those guys in the next year or two.”

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Stop Putting Pressure On Elliott

It’s clear to most that Elliott is extremely talented and offers a lot to this Liverpool side. Barnes says he is a fantastic player but is that going to be enough for him to make headway into the Liverpool starting 11 regularly? Could Elliott benefit from a loan move away? It’s a question even Barnes poses despite his array of talents.

“It’s not a slight on him to say he’s not a fantastic player. It’s just at this moment in time he’s not better than what we have.

“We shouldn’t put pressure on him as he’s still a valuable member of the squad and he still plays a key role in what Liverpool are trying to do.

“If he wants to play regularly in the Liverpool first team right now it will be difficult for him.”

Nunez Gives “100%, Commitment, Determination, Drive.”

Following the recent Manchester City game, striker Darwin Nunez received criticism for his performance. Although he found himself in several promising goal-scoring situations, he failed to demonstrate a Midas touch in and around the goal area. Nevertheless, Barnes has expressed admiration for Nunez’s efforts and contributions to the team, highlighting his positive impact despite the lack of goals.

“Nunez gives 100%, commitment, determination, drive. The team is playing better and we’re more creative from midfield which means he gets more chances.

“Last season he had to create chances for himself and we were more inconsistent but I don’t see any differences in the way Nunez is playing. Last year on the odd occasion we did play well he played well too.”