Trent Alexander Arnold: Vision is the foundation of football – and this is how I improved mine

Trent Alexander-Arnold is sat down on a 3G pitch in Kirkby, five miles north of Anfield, talking to FourFourTwo about the importance of vision to his game.

“When you think about it,” he says. “Vision is the foundation of everything to do with football. If you can see it then it gives you a better chance of being able to execute it.”

Vision is undoubtedly one of the secrets to Alexander-Arnold’s success, with his range of passing, crossing and spectacular goals evidence of an enhanced set of visual skills. 

But the best challenge themselves to get even better. At the start of the year, the 22-year-old sat down with Red Bull and mapped out ‘Trent’s Vision’. The aim was to sharpen his vision in every area of the pitch so that he continues to stay one step ahead of his opponents

The project began with a video call with American sports vision expert Dr Daniel Laby. The American, who has helped athletes all over the world to improve their athletic vision since 1992, set Alexander-Arnold a series of tests to get a baseline measure of his visual skills.  

He firstly underwent an eye test designed for athletes. Unlike traditional eye tests that examine your ability to see a range of letters or symbols of decreasing size until you are no longer able to identify them, the sports vision test displays small targets with low contrast for several hundred milliseconds. Alexander-Arnold was required to identify those targets immediately.

Next up was a software program called the NeuroTracker that tested his ability to track multiple objects at the same time. The program replicates the visual demands of a game when players must track their team-mates, the ball and opponents simultaneously.

His final test was an augmented reality challenge. Using an app on an iPad, the right-back firstly had to do as many kick-ups as possible in a specified period of time. Then, he was tasked with completing a dribbling and control test. Targets appeared on screen, requiring him to move the ball to hit each one, with the app tallying up a final score.

Dr Laby analysed his results and designed a bespoke program using two apps, Brain HQ and GlassesOff. The apps train his ability to focus on objects for prolonged periods, peripheral vision and multiple object tracking. He was also given a video teaching him how to juggle to hone the same hand-eye coordination and concentration skills needed for football. 

More than two months on, Alexander-Arnold says he is already reaping the benefits of his program. “I’d say certain aspects have helped,” he says. “Just knowing what’s around you, being able to identify space and paint a picture of what’s going to happen in a few seconds time, judging other people’s movements and just being able to see things a little bit quicker.”

He also thinks it could help him to become a better defender. “It can help to identify little things, where the opponent’s body weight is, my anticipation of what they’re going to do next and just being able to see things a little bit quicker and clearer,” he says.

If you want to learn more about Trent Alexander-Arnold and what he is doing to stay at the top of his game, head over to Red Bull TV, which has an exclusive new documentary with the Liverpool full-back about the Trent's Vision training programme.