- 1 hour ago
'He used to sprint!' - Liverpool player SLAMMED by club legend
Liverpool have endured an abject season and Trent Alexander-Arnold has been one of their most disappointing players, with Jamie Redknapp singling out his game on Sky Sports.
Liverpool are making a late push for the Champions League but Jurgen Klopp's side remain seven points off Manchester United in fourth, with only six games left to play.
Alexander-Arnold has come in for heavy criticism, gifting wingers far too much space and losing 81 of his duels and counting in the Premier League this season. He has fallen down Gareth Southgate's England pecking order, too.
READ: Should Liverpool really use Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield?
But Klopp has recently taken a leaf out of Pep Guardiola's book, and started inverting his right-back so that he could better take part in his team's build-up play. It has been effective, but Redknapp has his reservations.
What did Redknapp say?
"I'm interested with Alexander-Arnold and where he's playing now," he told Sky Sports. "It will work at times and he does it naturally. When you vacate that [right-back] area, though, you leave a massive gap.
Trent Alexander Arnold in the last 3 games.
Phenomenal in his new role.
pic.twitter.com/Pc4ipEnAby— CF Comps (@CF_Compss) April 24, 2023
"I still think Trent is a great right-back. When I first saw him in the Premier League he was a good defender, not a great defender. I didn't see him get beaten too often.
"[But] I didn't see him not sprinting back! He used to sprint when he got in that team, backwards as much as he did forwards, so they have to be careful…"
READ: Alexander-Arnold tipped as next Coutinho as Liverpool seek new Alisson and Van Dijk
Alexander-Arnold is valued at €89.1 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, and was recently put forward by Tony Cascarino as the kind of player Liverpool need to cash in on as the plot a summer rebuild.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have both previously been credited with an interest in his services, although a move to the former now seems significantly more likely - not least because Florentino Perez likes Klopp as a potential successor to Carlo Ancelotti and the club need a long-term replacement for Dani Carvajal.
Barca's financial problems are well-documented, meanwhile, and Lionel Messi is their priority this summer at the same time as trying to reduce their debt by €200m in order to take part in La Liga next season.