Slot Defends Alexander-Arnold United Performance Amidst Madrid Rumours

01/06/2025 11:11 AM

While rumours of a transfer to Real Madrid swirl, Trent Alexander-Arnold put in his worst performance of the season against Manchester United on Sunday.

Sunday afternoon's performance in a 2-2 draw against historic rivals Manchester United may not have been Liverpool at their absolute best, but it was far from being a terrible performance. In fact, the numbers say that on most days the Reds would have walked away with all three points.

While the modelsvary, no matter which you choose Arne Slot's Reds can say they created around three expected goals worth of chances to one-and-a-half for United, making either 3-1 or 3-2 the likelier scoreline instead of the actual 2-2 and with it a pair of disappointingly dropped points.

That may not help much, though, for those more concerned by individual performances than the team as a whole who have latched on to an arguably season-worst outing for Trent Alexander-Arnold at right back in the midst of an increadinly contentious transfer saga for the homegrown star.

Slot, though, insists that he doesn't think rumours he might leave his boyhood club and sign with Madrid on a free impacted the player—it's simply that he came up against some very good players who, in something of a rarity regarding Manchester United this season, were up for the game.

"I don't believe in those things," the manager noted. "I think nine out of ten people will tell you it affected him but I'm the tenth who tells you that I don't think it affected him. What affected him was that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two stars for Portugal and great players.

"We have Diogo Jota here who is a great player and he's mostly not even playing regularly for Portugal so that tells you how much quality United have. If these players set themselves to a game, and that's something United once in a while does, then it can be very difficult to play against them.

"I think it's that it is more that it is difficult for Trent to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot than it is about the rumours that were there during the week. That's my opinion. Probably everybody else is going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours but my opinion is different."

In Alexander-Arnold's defence, having the most attack minded of the three midfielders in Curtis Jones shaded to his side while Mohamed Salah played ahead of him in a largely free right wing role with fairly limited defensive duties will have made his day against Fernandes and Dalot harder.

For many, though, the issue isn't Alexander-Arnold too often being beaten in defence or providing surprisingly little on the ball. Instead, itt was he often appeared unmotivated, failing to press or track back while too often throwing up his hands like a frustrated observer and not a participant.

Players have off games. It happens. The dire weather on Sunday likely won't have helped, and Slot is right that when United's players find the motivation they can at least individually be very good even if it's been a long, long time since that club has managed to field a coherent, effective team.

Still, even if one can find a way to explain away and excuse how bad Alexander-Arnold looked against United for long stretches on Sunday, it's hard to imagine a worse time or opponent for that kind of a performance and it will only fuel a growing and unwelcome narrative around the club.