England cult hero Stuart Pearce has torn into Liverpool talent Trent Alexander-Arnold for being as ‘nervous as a kitten’ during the first half at Manchester City this Saturday.
Pearce took real issue with the body language the 25-year-old showed at Etihad Stadium for a top-of-the-table fixture. Liverpool visited Manchester City just one point off the defending Premier League champions in second. Yet Alexander-Arnold did not appear up for the battle.
Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku often ran rings around the right-back through the first period of play. The Citizens’ £55.5m summer arrival from Stade Rennais relished any chance he got to run at Alexander-Arnold. Bernardo Silva also helped to add to the defender’s pain.
Pearce slams Alexander-Arnold’s ‘body language’ at Manchester City
Doku often had the beating of Alexander-Arnold in a one-vs-one battle on Manchester City’s left flank during Liverpool’s visit. Reds coach Jurgen Klopp was also often left watching on as the defender backpaddled. Erling Haaland’s ingenuity also caused the wing-back problems.
Manchester City went after Alexander-Arnold early on in the game and set a tone for him as their target. Being on the end of the relentless attacks from Doku, Silva and Haaland looked to take its toll on the defender, as well, with his body language leaving Pearce unimpressed.
“The body language of Trent,” Pearce disappointingly told talkSPORT (25/11, 12:56): “He’s on the back foot. Come and take me on. I’m nervous as a kitten.”
Playing in England’s midfield may not have helped the Liverpool star
The half-time break gave Alexander-Arnold his chance to reset after the nightmare Doku and Manchester City dealt the Liverpool product. Per SofaScore, he headed back to the dressing room having lost seven of the 23-cap England international’s 10 ground duels in 45 minutes.
Doku, on the other hand, won six of his 11 first-half ground duels and Silva won seven of his nine. Alexander-Arnold also lost possession nine times, which was the fourth-most behind Doku (13), Julian Alvarez (11) and Curtis Jones (10) through the first half at Etihad Stadium.
Playing in midfield for England under Gareth Southgate during the November international break may not have helped Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool visited Manchester City. He took up a central role for the Three Lions’ Euro 2024 qualifiers with Malta and North Macedonia.
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