Michael Owen has made it clear that Trent Alexander-Arnold wouldn’t be spoken about if he was an ‘average’ player after criticism aimed at the Liverpool star’s recent performances.
The former striker shared that Alexander-Arnold is ‘not in top form’ right now, but the same could be said for the rest of his teammates, as he told The Final Word on Premier League Productions (03/10/22 at 11:05 pm).
Alexander-Arnold went into Liverpool’s recent game – their 3-3 draw at home to Brighton – under a big spotlight and debates raging as to why Gareth Southgate didn’t provide him with a single minute of action during England’s UEFA Nations League matches against Italy and Germany.
Not only was he left on the bench for the defeat in Italy, but he didn’t even make the matchday squad for the six-goal thriller against the Germans.
It was just a further sign, during a period of questioning for the 23-year-old, that he might not be on that plane to Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Owen would have been under a similar spotlight as Alexander-Arnold because, not only was he producing well above his age grade during his playing days, but he also came through at Liverpool, as he shared his thoughts on the right-back’s current situation.
“I don’t think there is any question that he’s not in the top form,” said Owen. “But there are lots of players, Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah. I can go through the whole team.
“I think it’s unfortunate for him. But he has set these high standards. You want to be talked about all the time. We wouldn’t be talking if he was an average player. We wouldn’t be doing analysis on him, so he has to accept and appreciate that for what it is.
“Nobody questions him going forward, nobody questions the array of passing he has got or his vision. Everything about him going forward is amazing. Defending is where people are pointing the finger.
“He didn’t do too much wrong during the Brighton game, but when the microscope is on you, then everybody is going to look at you – once he loses the ball, is he busting a gut to try and challenge the ball to win it? People will question that as well.”
DEFENCE VS ATTACK
The issue here is that Liverpool’s system or Jurgen Klopp’s instructions ask Alexander-Arnold to be in attacking positions that put him at more risk from a defensive aspect.
That isn’t a flaw in the player, but the individual just following instructions going forward because he is so good at making the ball talk in the final third.
Yes, the Liverpool academy product needs to up his game in the defensive third, but would you take 10% out of his attacking game and put it in his defending? Not a chance.
Alexander-Arnold is too good and simply out of this world going forward that you never want to change that, so it’s a case of putting the player in a system that will allow him to express those attacking qualities, focus on what he can do, rather than bash him for his defending and focus on what he can’t do.
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