Our level of interest in this Club World Cup is best summed up by our main motivation for watching Real Madrid face Juventus: Trent Alexander-Arnold and how he fits into Xabi Alonso’s system.
This tournament was always going to have its downfalls and attract deserved criticism. We’ve covered that at length across several opinion pieces, and this won’t be another one. But the pre-season feel refuses to go away. These players are knackered, and that’s not what this prestigious competition deserves — no matter how much of a farce its expansion and weather delays may be.
A competitive match between Real Madrid and Juventus should be must-see football — but it just isn’t. Not only are the players knackered, so is the consumer. Technically, it’s a competitive fixture with plenty on the line, but you’d be forgiven for not even knowing it was happening.
We are, at least, getting an early look at clubs with new managers and players — without it being a glorified friendly purely about gaining fitness.
One of the most interesting teams in that respect is Real Madrid. They’ve got a new head coach in Xabi Alonso and two new defenders we’re all very familiar with: Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The latter, in particular, is the main reason we’re watching — and writing about — a Club World Cup fixture.
We are absolutely on Trentwatch again, though not quite to the depth of Will Ford, who analysed literally everything the Liverpool legend did and didn’t do on his Real Madrid debut against Al Hilal.
To be brutally honest, Alexander-Arnold was pretty s**t. His loss of possession led to Juventus’ first decent chance, completely scuffed by Francisco Conceicao, and then an enormous chance that Randal Kolo Muani squandered with an attempted dink over man mountain Thibaut Courtois. The Frenchman cleared Courtois but the bar as well.
Both chances came from poor ball control and were just what the Italians were hoping for as they sat deep and looked to hurt Los Blancos in transition. They were more than ready to capitalise on any Trent mishaps and the vast majority of their attacking play came down their left.
There were a couple of dodgy defensive moments as well. Kenan Yildiz was a problem, and one incredible piece of skill from Conceicao made him look a fool. In truth, he was beaten too easily on a couple of occasions in the first half and Igor Tudor knew there was potential for the Englishman to be exploited.
His first-half performance left a lot to be desired. Excluding one low cross that somehow went all the way through, he didn’t do anything of note offensively. Everything he tried that involved any kind of risk didn’t work, with the former Liverpool defender only succeeding with his 10-yard passes back to Antonio Rudiger.
That was all okay, though, because Juve didn’t punish Madrid, who were completely dominant from the 30th minute onwards, with Alexander-Arnold growing into the game after the break.
He provided the assist to Gonzalo Garcia for the only goal of the game, and a game-deciding goal contribution is pretty significant. What an assist it was as well — worthy of masking an otherwise underwhelming performance and a forgettable game.
There was only one unmarked player in the box, and Trent found him, providing the ball on a plate with a trademark cross. And just when it felt like Kylian Mbappe’s arrival off the bench — and his first Club World Cup appearance — was imminent, Garcia hammered a header home to score his third goal in four games in the competition.
While his overall performance wasn’t the best, Trent produced a decisive moment to win Madrid the game and put them through to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup.
And it was fascinating to see how Trent did and what Alonso’s Madrid system looks like.
Trent is clearly told to utilise what is essentially a midfield five to spread the pitch. He is playing as wide as possible to either recycle the ball back to the right-sided centre-back, break the lines with a pass into the striker, Jude Bellingham or Federico Valverde, or, if the opportunity arises, bring out one of those trademark deep crosses or Hollywood passes to the other wing.
The Liverpool legend would be more than happy to boost his assist numbers with free-kicks and corners, but it appears that Arda Guler is the set-piece dictator in Alonso’s team.
Guler’s role in Alonso’s system is an interesting and unexpected one. With Aurelien Tchouameni middle of a back three, the young Turkish midfielder operates in the role you’d expect to see a younger Luka Modric start in, or what was essentially the Granit Xhaka role in Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen team.
They seem like very different players, but evidently not. Both left-footed, confident on the ball and capable of hitting the target from anywhere, they possess similar attacking qualities and thankfully for Guler, in such a ball-dominant side, his defensive responsibilities are minimal.
He really suits the role and it will be interesting to see if that’s the long-term plan, or if Alonso wants to bring someone like Martin Zubimendi in. Of course, it won’t be Zubimendi as he’s off to Arsenal, but someone more natural in the No.6 role.
This Madrid team defend in a 5-3-2, with a flat back five and Vinicius Junior and Garcia leading the press in front of Bellingham, Valverde and Guler. It’s hard to break down when it’s sustained possession, but opposition teams could punish them in transition.
Another thing worth commenting on was the absence of Arsenal target Rodrygo. He wasn’t unavailable, just an unused substitute. It’s not a good sign that Garcia continues to start over him, which suggests the 21-year-old Spaniard could be the go-to substitute over him when Mbappe inevitably becomes a starter after being out ill.
In a transfer window full of boosts and blows, Arsenal fans will hope this is another sign that a deal is to be done.
But this is not about transfer speculation. It’s about dissecting the performance of a right-wing-back, because that’s just about the most exciting thing about this Club World Cup.
Trent didn’t impress with his overall play, but that one moment of magic won Real Madrid the game. This right-wing-back role with minimal defensive responsibilities should be perfect for him, especially when he’s against your Real Oviedos and Elches in La Liga.
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