Former Liverpool striker Dean Saunders celebrates with one of Jurgen Klopp’s players.
After a disappointing fifth place finish last season, the Reds are now back in the top half of the Premier League.
Almost the whole team is better than a year ago. Virgil van Dijk is one of the standout players who has improved significantly, but another is Trent Alexander-Arnold.
This time last season, Trent was constantly criticized for not living up to his defensive responsibilities. But a year later, Saunders spoke highly of the Scouser on talkSPORT.
The pundit has so far named the Liverpool right-back in his Premier League team of the season. “On the right, I’ve tried my best to bring him into midfield because I think he’s good, but I can’t leave him out of the team.
Trent on the right,” explained Saunders.“He battles one-on-one in the channels and sometimes fades at the back post, but when he has the ball he is fantastic.
He’s just a great footballer, he’s almost reached the level where I’d call him a genius and he’s getting better and better.”
Alexander-Arnold is a genius
Genuis is a very good way to describe Alexander-Arnold. The 25-year-old sometimes acts on another level. Take, for example, his outrageous goal against Newcastle last night.
How many players see this shot from such a narrow angle that they actually try to shoot? Trent scored a great goal and almost got his reward.
It is clear that such an incident was a unique event. But every time you see Alexander-Arnold, he does something that makes you shrug.
9 times out of 10 it’s one of those curveballs that are perfect from one end of the field to the other. His death is off the charts.
As Trent continues to push for a more consistent role in midfield, some of those passes are a reminder of what can be achieved when playing deeper.
With more space for him, Alexander-Arnold will be eligible to make whatever pass he wants. This is Liverpool’s real weapon.
As Saunders points out here, some people always want to focus on the negative aspects of Trent. But from our perspective, the guy is truly a genius at what he does. We are very lucky to have him.
