Liverpool manager Arne Slot has thrown support behind the under-fire Trent Alexander-Arnold following his much-criticised display in the Reds' 2-2 Premier League draw with Manchester United.
The 26-year-old held his place over the fit-again Conor Bradley for the visit of the Red Devils, despite persistent links with a move to Real Madrid either this month or on a free transfer in 2025.
Alexander-Arnold is now said to have been the subject of a first bid from Real Madrid, which was immediately turned down by Liverpool, but the right-back can talk with Los Blancos after entering the last six months of his deal.
The England international has been lauded for improving the defensive side of his game this season, but he was lambasted for a lacklustre display against Ruben Amorim's side and was taken off for Bradley in the 86th minute.
Slot was inevitably quizzed on Alexander-Arnold's performance in his post-game press conference, but he did not buy into the notion that the Real Madrid speculation is distracting the defender and suggested that his display had more to do with Man United's quality on the right.
"No I don't think so," Slot told Sky Sports News when asked if it looked like Alexander-Arnold's head was elsewhere. "Trent has played mostly very good games for us and there probably have been games where he wasn't on his best.
"Today wasn't his best game, but that probably had to do with them as well. Especially the first half, Ryan [Gravenberch] wasn't close enough to him so he was sometimes in a two-v-one situation as well. I would put it more on the quality of Bruno and Dalot than it was down to Trent."
Was Trent Alexander-Arnold's display really that bad?
© Imago
Before Slot's more forensic assessment of Alexander-Arnold's display, ex-Man United captain Roy Keane made one of his quintessential quips on Sky Sports, claiming that the 26-year-old's performance was better suited to Tranmere Rovers than Real Madrid.
Some of the statistics are pretty damning indeed for the England full-back, who did not win a single one of his five ground duels during the contest, giving away two fouls and being dribbled past on two occasions.
The 26-year-old's effervescent attacking play has suffered throughout the season as a consequence of his improved defensive work, but on Sunday, he did not register a single accurate cross from six attempts and only completed three of his 11 long passes.
In total, Alexander-Arnold lost possession 25 times against Man United, including for Lisandro Martinez's opening goal, and he was fortunate that Amad Diallo got his first-half header all wrong after Dalot got in behind him far too easily.
The right-back still managed to fashion one chance and put in four interceptions on the evening, but the bad certainly outweighed the good, especially seeing as his replacement Bradley won all three of his ground duels in his 10-minute cameo.
Following today's shoddy display, not every Liverpool fan should be losing sleep over the possibility of Alexander-Arnold moving to Real Madrid, especially after Bradley's standout performance on his first game back from injury.
Ben Knapton
