‘He’s behind you!’ It sounds like a shout from a Halloween movie that might have you covering your eyes or burying your head into an oversized, overpriced bucket of popcorn, but for Trent Alexander-Arnold it is a reality of playing as a hybrid full-back. Except at Anfield it’s ‘man on’, rather than ‘he’s behind you’, that you’ll hear shouted from the stands.

Call him an inverted full-back or call him a hybrid midfielder, the 25-year-old has been playing in his more expansive role for six months now. The aim is to get him on the ball more in central areas to make the most of his exceptional range of passing and influence games, but that in turn puts Alexander-Arnold in the way of traffic, as he explains.

“When you’re playing as a full-back and receiving the ball you know nobody is behind you because you’re on the touchline so you never have to check your shoulders because no one is going to sneak up on you,” he says.

“In midfield you get the ball and people come after you from all different angles, pressing in ways you’ve not felt before so it has been a time of learning and was a big difference at the start.”

A perfect example of the pitfalls of the role came in the opening moments of Liverpool FC’s 3-1 win against AFC Bournemouth back in August. Virgil van Dijk slotted a pass to Trent in a central area, but Philip Billing was onto the no.66 in a flash and picked his pocket. Seconds later, Antoine Semenyo smashed a shot past Alisson and the Cherries led.

Yet during the same game the value of having Alexander-Arnold in a flexible role was also in evidence. Liverpool FC’s equaliser, scored by Luis Díaz, came from a ball pinged forward by Trent to Dominik Szoboszlai, as did the Reds’ second goal, this time when Szoboszlai was fouled and a penalty awarded.

On both occasions, Alexander-Arnold had drifted back towards the touchline, but such was AFC Bournemouth’s preoccupation with blocking passing channels in central areas he had space to make both passes. If Trent had been playing in the more traditional full-back role the chances are an opponent would have been much tighter on him. In short, he is now harder to keep off the ball.

A harsh red card for Alexis Mac Allister meant Alexander-Arnold ended up reverting to the traditional right-back role in the second half, but again it was from his pass that Szoboszlai struck a shot that Neto could only palm to Diogo Jota, who made it 3-1. The statistics show that Trent didn’t officially get an assist in that game, yet he was involved in all three goals by making passes to Szoboszlai. It is a combination that is thriving.

“On the right side of the pitch you are quite limited because most of the time you are quite close to the touchline so you can’t pass to the right, or you’d put the ball out of play,” says Alexander-Arnold. “When you’re in the middle of the pitch you can pass right and left whereas when you’re on the right side of the pitch then most of the time the only place you can pass is forwards, backwards and to the left.

“Now I’m playing a bit more inside of the pitch, it opens up more passing options on the right out to Mo, or whoever is occupying that space out there, either Dom or Mo a lot of the time. So it creates a lot more opportunities and options for me on the ball.

“The only time I was connected to Robbo was through a big switch [of play] and now it’s a shorter pass to him. It’s a lot more connected and I feel like I’m able to dictate games more, dictate the tempo more and dictate when and where we attack. Just that feeling of being in control of games.”

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A couple of years ago, Alexander-Arnold featured in a 47-minute film on Red Bull TV called Trent’s Vision. He completed a series of challenges with New York-based vision expert Dr Daniel Laby over a six-week period to see if improving his vision could make him a better player.

Working his way through a ‘vision pyramid’ by undergoing challenges from a basic eye test to trying to make accurate passes wearing a VR headset with flashing lights in his eyes to distract him, it ultimately helped Trent to trust his peripheral vision more from one glance, allowing him to play passes quicker but with the same accuracy.

“In football the footballer doesn’t have time to study and think what they’re going to do,” said Dr Laby. “They have to decide quickly. This test forces quick decisions.

“Over the 30 years or so that I’ve been doing this I’ve worked with many different elite players with many different personalities. Some are not interested in really improving and doing more, others do whatever they can to improve. Trent was the latter. He was somebody who very much wanted to do well, but he was also somebody who got frustrated at times. That keys me in on Trent’s perspective.

“He’s not just going to give up. Instead of saying ‘doc, I don’t know’ and coming up with something wrong, he wants to find out what the actual test is and he wants to do his best to get the answer right. Those are the marks of someone who is going to advance forward in the future.”

Two years on, and now playing in a role where peripheral vision is crucial given the pace and intensity of elite level football, Alexander-Arnold reflects on the experience and the difference that working with a sports vision expert has made to him.

“It’s just about finding the little 1% that makes all the difference at the end of the day,” he says. “I think when you’re playing at such a high level with world class players, and against world class players, week in, week out, the margins are so fine.

“As a team you need to do this, but also as an individual you need to find something that can put you ahead of the rest and the way football is and science is, they’re both merging. Now there are a lot of opportunities to get a little 1% here and there. Maybe on a day-to-day it won’t look like a big difference, but it might be the difference in one or two games this season where I’ve seen a pass and I’ve been able to play it because of the work I’ve been doing off the pitch.”

“It’s just about finding the little 1% that makes all the difference at the end of the day”- Trent Alexander Arnold

It brings things back to the role Trent is now playing and the system that Jürgen Klopp has adapted to create what has been dubbed ‘Liverpool FC 2.0’. Winning matches and trophies is the aim, but is having the licence to move between right-back and central midfield something that excites Alexander-Arnold?

“Yes, but the whole system is exciting. It’s not just about me or the types of passes and where I’m passing that’s exciting, it’s how to get on the ball; checking your shoulders; learning and understanding the role; asking questions and finding out answers; absorbing information and just trying to make the system work.

“It’s the same for everyone, A lot of players’ positions and what is demanded of them has adapted with this new system so it’s not just me, there’s a lot demanded of everyone else for it to work but the vibe around the place is very exciting.”