'Like to highlight': Arne Slot responds to what Liverpool fans have been chanting about Trent Alexander-Arnold
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Liverpool supporters have had little reason to grumble throughout the season so far.
The Reds have been excellent for large swathes of the campaign and sit top of the Premier League table at the halfway point.
Nevertheless, things have turned slightly tetchy over recent matches, after news of Real Madrid’s interest in Trent Alexander-Arnold pervaded the media.
Alexander-Arnold is of course yet to sign a new contract with Liverpool, and is currently mere months away from ending his 20-year association with the club.
As a result, the Anfield crowd turned toxic towards Trent during last weekend’s disappointing draw against Manchester United.
But after the right-back put in a much improved performance against Tottenham on Wednesday, Arne Slot said he wanted to highlight the crowd’s reaction to Alexander-Arnold.
Arne Slot happy with Trent Alexander-Arnold reception
It sounded like an incredibly strange atmosphere at Anfield during Sunday’s big match with United.
Alexander-Arnold put in a terrible performance and there’s little question that some of the negativity towards him would have impacted on his game.
Having come off the bench in midweek, however, Trent was so much better against Tottenham.
The Liverpool fans were heard serenading Alexander-Arnold with his ‘Scouser in the team’ song and speaking in his pre-Accrington Stanley press conference on Friday, Slot said he was delighted to hear the crowd back on Trent’s side.
READ MORE: Alphonso Davies and Bayern Munich may be about to give Liverpool hope of Trent Alexander-Arnold stay
“Trent has had one difficult game for us and maybe a few that were okay to good,” began the Liverpool head coach. “But he has had great games when he played for us this season.
“I know there is a lot of focus on him at the moment, but I would also like to highlight the focus on how well he did when he came in for the last half hour and how our fans reacted to him, that pleased me even more during that game.”
Liverpool fans must back Alexander-Arnold
Sunday would likely have been a big shock to the system for Alexander-Arnold. However, it is easy to see where the disappointment towards him has come from.
After all the noise about Real Madrid, it really felt like the end of his Liverpool career was in sight.
Fast forward a week or so, and that feeling has died down a little. It still seems unlikely that Alexander-Arnold will sign a new deal, but as long as he performs like he did on Wednesday, then that will be an easier pill to swallow.
In the meantime, Liverpool fans simply have to get behind Trent. If he is going, then send him out with a Premier League title. If he is not, then there are about to be a lot of red faces.
The Liverpool academy graduate may be gone in just six months, but until then he can still be real weapon for the Reds.
