Right back for Liverpool and England Trent Alexander- Arnold has brushed off criticism of how he defends, saying that he is unfairly judged compared to other players in his position.
Trent Alexander-Arnold wasn’t used much by Gareth Southgate before the World Cup, which brought up questions about his defensive skills again. The Liverpool player didn’t help himself by having a few questionable games for his club before the tournament.
Jurgen Klopp, the manager of Liverpool, has defended Alexander-Arnold many times, and now the right-back has given his own answer to those who don’t like him.
He told talkSPORT, “I think it’s gotten to the point where it’s the lazy opinion, the lazy thing to say.” “I think there is prejudice among people who just watch the game and see what they want to see.
“At the end of the day, you see what you want to see. If you go to a game and think a player is lazy because you’ve heard that he doesn’t run, and you see him once not running, you’ll think he’s lazy. You don’t see them running and sprinting around during the rest of the game.
“I guess that’s where I feel like I’m judged by people who come to games or watch me play football with the idea that ‘he’s not a good defender’ or ‘he can’t defend well,’ so when I make a mistake or someone gets by me once, it confirms what they already thought.
“Sometimes I feel like it doesn’t matter how well I do because if I’m not perfect, it’s not good enough, and I’m held to standards that maybe other players aren’t held to, but that’s life. You have to get started.”
Alexander-Arnold hasn’t started a World Cup game for England yet because he’s behind Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker in the pecking order. He played half an hour in England’s win over Wales. Walker, who had been out with a groin injury, was replaced by him when he was ready to play again.
