Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance against Manchester United has come under the scanner. (Reuters)
A disastrous showing by Trent Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Manchester United is being blamed on a supposed bid for his services made by Real Madrid, a move that has apparently unsettled the player.
There were differing opinions on Trent’s performance, with Roy Keane making the most scathing comment out of all.
“They talk about him going to Real Madrid, the way he’s defending, he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this, he’s got to do better.”
Keane’s former teammate Gary Neville, though, made a different observation. Neville said that the Real Madrid links distracted Arnold and that it wasn’t his defensive performance that was necessarily a problem, but rather the creative forward passing that has become a hallmark of the 26-year-old’s game, that went missing on Sunday.
“The supposed bid from Real Madrid is bad timing for him,” he said. “I think that will have unnerved him – Real Madrid are such a powerful club.
“There are three reasons for that performance. He has played like this before, he just had a bad game, or his mind was affected by all the talk. It wasn’t his defending, which we know he does sometimes, I thought his passing and forward play was the worst I’ve seen.”
But perhaps the harshest criticism of the night came from his own coach Arne Slot. The Dutchman said that it wasn’t the Real Madrid transfer saga that affected his right-back but rather the brilliance of United’s Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot that wreaked havoc with his player.
“I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him. I’m [the] one of the 10 that tells you that I don’t think that affected him,” said the Dutchman. “What affected him is that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two starters for Portugal, great, great players. I think that is more difficult for Trent to play against than the rumours that were there during the week.
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