Jaap Stam has claimed that opposition teams are targeting Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, as he told MatchDay Extra on Premier League Productions (22/10/22 at 8:30 pm).
The Manchester United legend was reacting to Liverpool’s 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday and how this season, Trent Alexander-Arnold, is being ‘taken advantage’ of.
The 24-year-old has come under a lot of stick for his performances of late, including question marks as to whether he should go to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar next month.
On Saturday, he was on the bench as Jurgen Klopp watched his side shoot themselves in the foot once again when they were beaten by then bottom-of-the-table Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
During this past week, the German would have felt that his team were turning a corner, especially with that win against Manchester City last week, but it wasn’t meant to be.
At the rate Liverpool are going at, nevermind the Premier League title, it’s Champions League football they should be worrying about, as Stam shared his thoughts on the Merseyside club’s situation.
“What’s wrong?” said Stam. “I think they are still a very good side and they have very good players. The only thing that’s lacking is confidence.
“But you expect them, after the Manchester City game, a good result, where they didn’t play well, you think the next game you get something out of it.
“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.
“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.”
LIVERPOOL’S FORM NOT HELPING ALEXANDER-ARNOLD
If Liverpool are in a situation where they will continually be knocked back and find themselves defending a lot more, then they won’t see the best of Alexander-Arnold.
He will eat teams alive, up and down Europe, if he is on the front foot and allowed to make the ball talk in the final third.
But he’s not been able to do that this season and his side’s own indifferent form hasn’t helped matters.
Despite that, given the injuries to Reece James and Kyle Walker, at this moment in time, it seems as though that England World Cup place that was under threat for Alexander-Arnold might just still be on the cards.
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