“Really poor” – Trent Alexander-Arnold has never been good defensively – Manchester United exploited him wonderfully
No one should be surprised by Trent Alexander-Arnold's poor defensive performance against Manchester United – he's never been good at it.
That's the view of talkSPORT's Ally McCoist, who says: red devils and coach Rubén Amorim exploited Liverpool's right back “exceptionally well.”
Alexander-Arnold endured a hard night in the 2-2 draw at Anfield as he gave the ball away before Lisandro Martínez scored United's first goal.
He was off the pace for most of the match after a week in which Liverpool rejected a transfer approach of Real Madrid.
United legend Roy Keane gave a harsh assessment of the right-back at half-time amid continued speculation over his future.
“Trent is defending today, my God, it was like a schoolboy thing.” he said in Sky Sports. “They are talking about him going to Real Madrid.
“The way he is defending, he will go to Tranmere Rovers after this. He has to do better.”
On Monday morning's talkSPORT breakfast, presenter Jeff Stelling said it looked like United were targeting Alexander-Arnold, and McCoist agreed.
He commented: “Absolutely. Listen, it's been documented before, Trent is a great player, by the way, he's having a great season, let's make it public right away.”
“Yes, everywhere defensively and sometimes it's Jeff because his main attribute is, I would have said, his passing and certainly the way he sees things and certainly the forward areas.
“Defensively, I don't think he's ever been a great Jeff, I really don't, but I think he was absolutely exploited to some extent yesterday by a United team, by the way, who played exceptionally well and probably answered one or two critics.
“I know it's just one game, but I thought it was a very, very good performance from United.
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“But in terms of Trent's defensive play yesterday, A, I thought it was really poor, but B, maybe I'm not as surprised as some people.
“I don't think he's a great defender, I think, as I said before, his main attribute is going forward, with the ball at his feet and passing.
“So, fair play to Ruben Amorim and United for exploiting that and they did it exceptionally well.”
Alexander-Arnold was replaced by Conor Bradley in the 86th minute against United as Liverpool searched for a late goal.
His performance has left many wondering if Madrid's interest affected him as a summer exit looms.
Liverpool made it clear that they are not willing to let the defender go mid-season, whose contract expires in the summer.
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Alexander-Arnold is reportedly not interested in leaving immediately but is free to talk to foreign clubs about a pre-contract agreement.
The Reds are still hoping to convince him to sign a new contract, with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah also facing summer exits.
Arne Slot's team are six points clear at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand on their title rivals after the draw with United.
