Arne Slot claims criticism received by Trent Alexander Arnold was too harsh as he blames contract stand-off for scrutiny on Liverpool star amid Real Madrid interest
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Liverpool manager Arne Slot has praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for turning around his Anfield fortunes with an excellent goal as captain in Saturday’s 4-0 FA Cup win against Accrington.
A week after Alexander-Arnold was heavily criticized for his poor performance against Manchester United amid ties with Real Madrid, the defender received a good reception from The Kop and struck a beauty from 20 yards to put his side 2-0 ahead to make.
Slot said: ‘I can talk about that goal for hours. Incredible.
“Every player around the world, maybe except a few, is playing poorly and that’s completely normal. But once Trent has one, everyone has an opinion about it.
“Maybe, maybe it’s because of the contract situation. I don’t know if that wouldn’t have been there if people would have reacted the same way.
“A lot of them were pretty hard on him.”
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has praised Trent Alexander-Arnold for turning around his Anfield fortunes
Alexander-Arnold received a huge compliment from the Reds boss after the FA Cup third round victory over Accrington Stanley
Alexander-Arnold scored a stunning strike to give Liverpool a two-goal lead in the 4-0 win
Alexander-Arnold, a local boy who came through Liverpool’s academy, is out of contract this summer. Real Madrid are interested and had a £20 million bid rejected by Liverpool this month.”
He faced League Two Accy as the club’s only other senior right-back, Connor Bradley, works his way back from a hamstring injury.
“I think it was good for Trent to play in our own stadium and feel the welcome from the fans again.
‘It was special and can only help him and us.
‘If you want to do special things this season, you can do that together, not only with the players, the manager but certainly also with the fans.’
Alexander-Arnold also sought out Accrington manager John Doolan, who coached him as a six-year-old at Liverpool’s academy.
“I said before the game that I coached Trent when he was six or seven and I don’t know if he remembers that,” Doolan said.
“Diane, his mother, would probably remember it when she took him to practice.
Alexander-Arnold, a local boy who came through Liverpool’s academy, is out of contract this summer
At the end of the game I didn’t see Trent. I walked up to our fans and he came up behind me in slippers and a big jacket and just said, “I remember”.
“Then we just started talking as if I had only spoken to him last week.
‘He is such a wonderful and humble man. He’s a top player, top player. If he does that, it shows the class he has.’
