Roy Keane has said he ‘can’t believe how bad’ Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is at defending.
Keane has been speaking about the Liverpool star on the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is enjoying an exceptional campaign for Liverpool, particularly in terms of his attacking contributions.
The 25-year-old has already popped up with two goals and nine assists in all competitions.
Jurgen Klopp has given the full-back the license to roam into midfield of late and it’s certainly benefitted him.
But he continues to receive criticism over the defensive side of his game and Roy Keane is the latest pundit to comment on what he feels is a weakness of Alexander-Arnold’s game.
Keane stunned by ‘how bad’ Trent is at defending
Speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville asked Jamie Carragher who he feels is the Player of the Year so far.
“I think Trent Alexander-Arnold would be near the top,” the Liverpool legend said.
And Keane responded: “I can’t believe how bad he is at defending. For a guy who has played a lot of games, it’s like he has never played the position before.
“It’s amazing how many people just run past him. In possession he’s brilliant.”
There’s no getting away from the fact that Alexander-Arnold does struggle defensively at times. But his contributions to this Liverpool side in the attacking third far outweigh any defensive frailties he may have.
There have been calls for Klopp to use the full-back in midfield but he is thriving in that inverted role at the moment.
In our opinion, Alexander-Arnold’s defensive side of his game isn’t quite as bad as many pundits like to make out.
Of course, he does struggle with tricky wingers, especially in 1v1 situations. But he also excels at winning the ball back in dangerous areas for Liverpool.
It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him move to a midfield role in the future. Yet, he’s excelling in his current position for the time being and has been a key reason behind Liverpool’s excellent first half of the season.
