With Xabi Alonso doing so well in management this season, it has seen plenty of Liverpool fans harking back to the silky Spaniard’s days at Anfield.
If rumours are to be believed, then the Reds have their eye on their former midfielder as Jurgen Klopp’s successor at the club. But according to Match of the Day 2 pundit Jermaine Jenas, Liverpool may have finally found Alonso’s long-awaited successor in the midfield: Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Trent was the match-winner against Fulham on Sunday. Having already put the Reds ahead with a free-kick that went in off Bernd Leno, the right-back rattled in a superb late winner in-front of the Kop. And raving about Alexander-Arnold on Sunday night, Jenas compared him to not one but two Liverpool legends.
“What was brilliant about his game today I thought, as much as Fulham were in this game, he had this thing about him where he was a bit like ‘this isn’t happening on my watch. I’m not allowing this to happen’,” raved the pundit. “He had a bit of Xabi Alonso about his game, a bit of Steven Gerrard about his game, picking the ball up in these central areas and finding these lovely passes, on numerous occasions. He was the heartbeat of the side. On a day where Salah didn’t turn up, Diaz didn’t turn up and Nunez didn’t turn up, he was the one who was just like ‘I’m going to keep probing and keep finding a way’.”
Trent the midfield maestro But in truth, you can really see where he’s coming from. Trent really did resemble both Alonso and Gerrard at times this weeked. ‘His development is crazy’: Jurgen Klopp says one Liverpool player has improved so much recently Like Alonso, Liverpool’s No.66 has an ability to pick the ball up in any area of the pitch and find a teammate at the other end of it. But not satisfied with this alone, Trent also summoned the spirit of Gerrard to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and win it for Liverpool. How many times did we see the Reds’ legendary No.8 turn a game from a loss, to a draw, to a win. When Stevie was on the pitch and things weren’t going as they should, that’s when he’d sparkle the most.
With the vice-captaincy secured, perhaps we’re now seeing signs that Alexander-Arnold is going to take on this responsibility for his boyhood club. If he can do that, and continue his ridiculous passing, it won’t be the last we hear of either of these comparisons.
It’s big praise from Jenas to compare Alexander-Arnold to these two giants of the game, especially given that he was nominally still playing at right-back against Fulham.
‘His development is crazy’: Jurgen Klopp says one Liverpool player has improved so much recently
Rousing The Kop
16 hours ago
His passing is obviously the thing that most. aligns him with Xabi. The Bayer Leverkusen coach was arguably one of the finest long-range passers of a generation.
was sumptuous, as ever.
