The backlash was inevitable.
After all the noise surrounding his future in the build to Liverpool’s showdown with Manchester United, Trent Alexander-Arnold delivered his most underwhelming display of the season.
Arne Slot’s insistence that Real Madrid stepping up their pursuit of the club’s vice-captain wouldn’t create a distraction as his side sought to strengthen their grip on the Premier League title race proved to be wishful thinking.
Alexander-Arnold bore the brunt of Anfield’s ire as a contest they were expected to win handsomely ended in a frustrating 2-2 draw.
There were howls of discontent from the stands as the home-grown right-back’s distribution repeatedly let him down. He only completed 75 per cent of his passes (47 of 63), the lowest accuracy rate out of any Liverpool player who started and he lost possession 25 times. One occasion led to Lisandro Martinez firing United ahead.
Defensively, Alexander-Arnold didn’t win any of the five duels he contested as Diogo Dalot caused him a stack of problems. United kept getting in behind him far too easily. He was fortunate that Alisson bailed him out in the first half after he had played Rasmus Hojlund onside. Captain Virgil van Dijk did likewise late on after another careless pass had left the hosts exposed. Alexander-Arnold was substituted shortly after.
(Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“I think nine out of 10 people will tell you it (the speculation) affected Trent, but I am one of the 10 that tells you I don’t think it did,” Slot said.
“What affected him was that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, who are two starters for Portugal. Great players. It was more difficult for Trent to play against them than the rumours there were during the week. That’s my opinion.
“It was clear that Trent had some difficult moments, as we as a team had, but that is also for Trent not the first time. I think for the majority of the games he played for this club, they were very good, but I can’t believe it if people tell me that he’s never played a bad game for this club. That has probably happened before.”
Simply a bad day at the office or a sign that Alexander-Arnold’s mind is elsewhere?
The knee-jerk response is that his commitment has waned after having his head turned and Liverpool should now get what they can for him this month rather than accept losing him to Real Madrid for nothing in the summer.
But that’s an emotional over-reaction which ignores the bigger picture. For a start, just a week earlier, no-one was complaining about Alexander-Arnold’s contribution to the 5-0 rout of West Ham. He scored his first goal since April and produced one of the passes of the season for Mohamed Salah.
Slot has done a lot of individual work with Alexander-Arnold on improving the defensive side of his game and the results had been there for all to see prior to Sunday’s regression.
There’s no chance that a player who has committed the past 20 years to his boyhood club would effectively throw in the towel when he’s just months away from potentially winning a second Premier League title of his career. He’s hardly taken a back seat. Having played with painkilling injections to ease the discomfort of a side strain in October, he’s missed just one top-flight match in helping Slot’s side establish a six-point lead with a game in hand.
Liverpool’s stance that he’s simply not for sale in January is the right one. Real Madrid’s initial approach was rebuffed last week before any figures were discussed but even if they return with an offer of £20million it should change nothing.
That’s peanuts compared to the riches Liverpool will bank if Alexander-Arnold plays a pivotal role in them clinching Premier League and/or Champions League glory. He’s still a match-winner with his creative spark. One error-strewn performance doesn’t change that.
Yes, they have an impressive deputy in Conor Bradley, but he’s only just returned from six weeks out with a hamstring injury and is still learning his trade. You can’t place too much responsibility on his young shoulders.
Sunday may have been Alexander-Arnold’s first appearance since Real Madrid publicly started their push to recruit him, but that revelation was hardly a bolt from the blue. His world hasn’t just been turned upside down. Everyone knew it was coming. It’s a position Carlo Ancelotti is desperate to strengthen after the loss of Dani Carvajal and Alexander-Arnold has long been their top target.
(Carl Recine/Getty Images)
In the Spanish capital, they believe it’s a question of when, not if, he moves to the Bernabeu. Liverpool insist they still retain hope he will pen an extension and stay put.
Maybe the magnitude of the decision he’s facing is dawning on Alexander-Arnold now that January has arrived and he has the option of signing a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club. It would be understandable if his head was a little frazzled as the pressure and scrutiny grows.
What about his legacy at Anfield if he walks away? What about that long-held desire to become club captain? Given Liverpool’s current lofty status, he couldn’t claim that he needs a move in order to satisfy his thirst for silverware.
At the age of 26, does he simply want a new challenge? The chance to live abroad and experience a different lifestyle, as well as the glamour of playing alongside his close friend Jude Bellingham. Financially, what’s on the table is unclear, but Madrid is likely to be more lucrative given he would pocket a large signing-on fee.
Of course it should never have reached this point. Yes, internal upheaval at Liverpool didn’t help matters, but the club’s owners took their eye off the ball when they allowed Alexander-Arnold to get down to the final year of his current deal. This situation could and should have been avoided.
It was one of the biggest issues that sporting director Richard Hughes inherited last summer and he’s been wrestling with it ever since with no breakthrough in discussions.
On Sunday, there was a new banner on the Kop before kick-off. It read: ‘FSG give Mo and Co their dough’ alongside pictures of Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who have all entered the final six months of their current deals.
It’s remarkable that all the ongoing uncertainty over the influential trio hasn’t negatively impacted the season so far. Liverpool can’t afford for that to change as the stakes get higher.
Alexander-Arnold struggled against United but this wasn’t the day to make sweeping judgements. They need him for what’s ahead between now and May, regardless of where he intends to play his football next season.
(Header photo: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
