Season 10: SM24 ATTRIBOOSTS: EPISODE 15

You have nooo idea how excited we are for this one! 😃🤸

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve gone into details pertaining a world class player and today we have one who has revolutionized an entire position and could go down as an all time great once he’s hanged up his boots…

Trent Alexander-Arnold is the Scouser that many Liverpoolians hold to the highest prestige as the best DM(R) in the world as well as being the best DM(R) that England has ever produced. Personally, we don’t even think he is no longer a DM(R) but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he is almost flawless with the ball at his feet in terms of what he can provide to a team when in possession. Not many can truly nail down a player’s profile like we can (especially a unique player like Trent), so let’s dive into the deep end and check out if these attributes do him gold! 🙌 🔴

SM24 ATTRIBUTES

In SM, Trent is considered a DM(R) whose best role is as a ‘Deep-lying Playmaker’ who is in the same mold as Oleksandr Zinchenko, whom we’ve already discussed in this season, but is at a vastly higher level compared to the Ukranian. Straight off the bat we see some painstakingly bad errors which make you wonder who the 🤬 has responsibility for analyzing these players and placing them into the game, but we’ve got the responsibility of righting those wrongs, so that even if you’re not capable of doing anything within SM24 about these attributes, you can still implement the correct ones within SMW when deciding on wether players like Trent would be a good fit for your starting XI…

TECHNICAL ATTRIBUTES

Since this is our first World Class player within this season, bare with us as we are going to demonstrate the true meaning of these attributes and how they capture the natural ability of a player like Trent (we won’t go all Ward-Prowse in this one. Well, unless you want us too…) :

It’s been well documented that Trent is a terrible defensive player so his Marking attribute is pretty spot on since it is too easy for his opposition to get away from him during matches ; Tackling is apart of being a Defender and it is also something that Trent is not good at which is why his current rating simply doesn’t make any sense since Trent isn’t a player who times his tackles well, normally gets easily beaten in 1v1 situations, and is not a good recovery tackler either ; Some might say that his lack of defensive nuance starts with his Positioning, but for the most part he tends to be in good enough defensive positions congruent to where the ball is, but for what he does on the ball and for a man who plays predominantly within the right flank and right half space (or in midfield when either inverting or starting in a double-pivot), Trent always seems to be available which is why his Positioning needs to be increased ; Trent hasn’t been an off the ball operator while his team is in possession ever since he broke into the Liverpool first team as an 18 year old and now plays in a manner where he places himself in areas where the ball comes to him without him having to do a lot of off the ball Movement ; He is arguably one of the best at Finishing in the world in his position, but he ain’t that good… ; His Dribbling is spot on as he was never a player who would aim to skip pastopposition or wiggle his way through tight spaces. We considered lowering it as of writing these words since even a 69 might be too high for the kind of player Trent is, but 🤬 it… ; Not only is Trent one of the best at Finshing in his position, he also possesses one of the most accurate Long Shots in the game due to his phenomenal ball stricking technique. But again, he’s not that good and isn’t a better Long Shot taker than Kevin De Bruyne (88🤦), Cristiano Ronaldo (83 🤣), or Hakan Çalhanoğlu (90) ;  His Crossing attribute is a joke… I mean, Trent literally has 58 Premier League assists to his name, and yet his Shooting eclipses his Crossing ability?! 🤬 outta here! ; His Control of the ball is up to standard ; Much appreciation for showcasing that there are indeed not a lot of players in world football who pass a ⚽ around the gaff at the same level as T.A.A… ; He’s never been a penalty taker so this is on point; His Free Kicks and Corners are on par with his Crossing since they’re all a joke and should be increased (don’t need more of an explanation on this one since if you know you know) ; Lastly, his Creativity… Vision is something that Trent does not struggle with since he has an insatiable appetite for putting things on a plate for his teammates, and although he can’t lace K.D.B’s cleats in this department, a 75 is simply too low for the calibre of Trent’s IQ.

WHAT WE THINK

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

Sticking with the same formula, Trent sucks in the air so his Aerial Ability attribute is warranted ; I don’t know where this Pace is coming from because if you actually watch the 🤬ing bloke play you’d know that he gets ran passed quite easily and has poor recovery speed which is not an indication of someone with Pace ; Trent is indeed one of the fittest players in the game despite this lack of Pace, and is rarely injured and plays ninety minutes basically every week, so his Stamina is warranted ; He was never known for his Strength even though he loves to get in some tossles (more on this later) ; His Workrate simply needs to improve because although Trent doesn’t take his defending seriously, he’s always available in the attacking third and presses quite effectively.

WHAT WE THINK

MENTAL ATTRIBUTES

For a lad who isn’t the strongest or the tallest, boy does he love a scuffle! That’s the Brittish within him who’s not afraid to go toe to toe in order to showcase his Aggression ; Don’t need to explain why Trent is one of the best players in the world when it comes to his Composure ; Although a 76 for Concentration is relatively low, it’s too high for someone like Trent since it is well known that he loses focus too easily while defending ; Even back when he was a teenager T.A.A wouldn’t try anything fancy on the ball, so his Flair needs to be decreased ; He is now the vice captain of Liverpool and we are looking at someone who might go down as one of their greatest captains so long as he stays as a one club man…

WHAT WE THINK

There you have it… A complete look into the true player that Trent 🤬ing Alexander-Arnold is. A simply sublime baller that is an absolute joy to watch, and even better to manage!

Only a select few have the tactical know-how to get the most out of him and now you can be one of them by clicking the link below to check out our full explanation of Trent Alexander-Arnold as a player on both SM24 and SMW…

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Season 7 (SMW Superstars) Episode 5: Trent Alexander- Arnold