Arne Slot believes that all Trent Alexander-Arnold’s blip against Manchester United did was expose just how sensational he’s been this season.
After struggling against the Red Devils in last weekend’s 2-2 draw, the England star was back to his best with his 60 minutes against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. He scored a goal and came close to a second if not for a good save by William Crellin as Liverpool cruised to a 4-0 win.
Slot did not shy away from the fact that Alexander-Arnold was poor against United, but rushed to defend a player he believes has been a key contributor all season long and will play a big role in any success they enjoy through the second half of the campaign.
“I think the biggest compliment Trent could get was the reaction of everyone after the United game,” Slot said after the FA Cup win.
The Liverpool boss knew that was a confusing bit of mental gymnastics — “you’re looking at me like ‘huh? Why are you saying that?’” So he continued to explain.
“Every player around the world have bad games, and that’s completely normal. But the moment Trent has a bad game, everybody has an opinion about him.
“I’s the biggest compliment you can get if you have such a great first half of the season, and you don’t play a good game against United — and that was clear for me, for the fans, for you, for all the analysts who showed the game. Many of them were quite hard on him, and maybe that’s the biggest compliment you could get.”
Alexander-Arnold has been the subject of chatter in recent weeks, not only for his performances on the pitch but also for his future at the club. The 26-year-old will see his current contract expire at the end of the season, with rumors of a Real Madrid switch swirling.
Having been a Liverpool player his entire career, coming through the club’s youth system, a departure of a top-tier club servant would be felt by the fans.
Given that, Slot admitted “maybe that [level of criticism] has to do with the contract situation, I don’t know if that wasn’t there if everybody would have reacted in the same way.”
At this point, there seems to be no resolution on the contract front, but Slot is hoping that Alexander-Arnold’s strong play across the whole of the season will do the talking while everything behind-the-scenes works itself out.
