Former golden boy Alexander-Arnold is now Liverpool's biggest 'weakness'
FT Desk
- 24 Oct 2022 19:45 BST
- 4 min read
For years Trent Alexander-Arnold has been considered one of England's biggest young talents, a supremely gifted attacking full-back of the kind the nation has rarely produced in its history and the darling of the national team and Liverpool alike.
Gradually, though, the signs that the 2018 Golden Boy runner-up may have a glaring weakness in his game have been appearing with more and more regularity.
Those failings have already put in jeopardy his place at the World Cup this year and could soon cost him at Anfield too.
The problem was put into focus by former Manchester United defender Jaap Stam, who was watching as the Reds dropped more costly points at the weekend with defeat to newly promoted Nottingham Forest.
Forest had managed just one victory in their first eight Premier League games, but got the better of Jurgen Klopp and his struggling charges to breathe new lift into their season.
And in Stam's view, one of the Reds' stars has actually become more or a liability than an asset.
Is Alexander-Arnold now Liverpool's Achilles Heel?
“Playing Forest, on a very bad run, they need to win, so they are going to give you a hard time. But the confidence you are getting from the Man City game, you might expect them to get more about from this game," the Dutchman told Premier League Productions.
“Maybe oppositions are looking at them a lot more, in terms of ‘where are their weaknesses?’.
"You see a lot, when Alexander-Arnold plays, a lot of teams are playing on that side and taking advantage and creating opportunities, so they need to get things right to start competing for the Champions League spots.”
Nor is Stam the first to question the right-back's gung-ho approach. 'Most teams who play Liverpool identify Trent as one of the main attacking threats they need to stop," ex-Liverpool striker Michael Owen explained on BT Sport recently.
"By the same token, they will also say their biggest opportunity for getting in is on his side.
"Jordan Henderson has tended to try and cover for him but sometimes Jordan is not playing and that has been a cause for concern in certain games. One of Liverpool's biggest strengths can also be one of their biggest weaknesses."
When Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool are in full flow they can be a delight to watch, but in times of struggle, such as now, his habit of flying forward with little regard for what is happening behind causes his team a huge problem.
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The result has been a Reds team which has leaked goals on an alarming level with him in the team.
Alexander-Arnold has started eight Premier League matches this season and in those games watched as Liverpool have conceded on 12 occasions. In contrast, when he was benched against Manchester City the Reds appeared a much tighter, if less entertaining unit, shutting out Erling Haaland and Co. for the first time this season despite spending much of the game on the back foot.
It appears that the dynamic full-back's game has been figured out by opponents, who can do just enough to keep him under wraps while targeting the vast expanses left by his forays up front. He and Liverpool must adapt, or else the 24-year-old faces becoming a liability and luxury the struggling Reds simply cannot afford.
