Tony Adams says Trent Alexander-Arnold was ‘all over the place’ during Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Arsenal and he feels Jurgen Klopp has ‘confused’ him.
On Sunday, Liverpool and Arsenal played out a Premier League classic, with Trent Alexander-Arnold at the heart of the action, from his defending coming into question in the first half to his attacking play showing in the second.
Just before Liverpool pulled a goal back through Mohamed Salah after Arsenal went 2-0 up, the man on Liverpool’s right was booked for a coming together with Granit Xhaka.
The 24-year-old seemed fired up after that moment, as he tried to rev up the crowd and he became more aggressive when defending against Gabriel Martinelli.
The only issue for Alexander-Arnold was that Arsenal already had two goals on the board and Martinelli was at the heart of them both.
From a defensive aspect, certainly for Gabriel Jesus’ goal, Tony Adams was critical of Alexander-Arnold and how Jurgen Klopp hasn’t helped him out, as he told Premier League Productions (09/04/23 at 6:30 pm).
“I don’t know what Trent is doing,” said Adams. “It’s a great ball down the side, a massive hole, Jesus has pulled off the shoulder. It’s great centre-forward play. But it’s poor defending play (from Trent to not stop the cross).
“But Trent’s positional play is all over the place – the manager has confused him. They played Gomez against Chelsea and they kept a clean sheet.
“Now, he’s popped him in and he’s trying to play in midfield. Is he playing in midfield or at right-back? The kid doesn’t know what he is doing.”
ALEXANDER-ARNOLD NEEDS TO BE MORE FIRED UP
After that Xhaka flare-up, Alexander-Arnold was properly fired up and he was playing like he had a point to prove.
He was a lot more aggressive when defending and it’s probably a sign to himself that he needs to show more of that in other games.
From an attacking perspective, no one has questioned the Anfield academy product, but those defensive questions have always floated above his head.
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