Trent Alexander-Arnold is losing control of the narrative, writes LEWIS STEELE… the Scouser needs to remind Liverpool fans of his love for the club or do his talking on the pitch

Suddenly the £20 million fee that Real Madrid would be willing to pay for Trent Alexander-Arnold this month seems a bit high.

Of course, that comment gets a lot of laughs. But his performance on Sunday made it harder to grumble about the theory that the Spanish champions’ charm offensive has sown a seed of doubt or distraction in Alexander-Arnold’s mind.

Roy Keane joked on Sky Sports: ‘Trent’s defense is like schoolboy stuff… if we’re talking about a move to Real Madrid, he’s going to Tranmere Rovers next.’ Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher later added: ‘Terrible, he’s not at the races. Maybe he should come off.’

Those jokes came on either side of a lot of frustration from across Anfield. Fans in the Kop said supporters stepped on Alexander-Arnold’s back with every loose pass, while someone to the right of the press box shouted: ‘If you don’t want to be here, f*** off’.

Verbally abusing your own players in such a way goes too far, but even though the gentleman in the Main Stand was in the minority, grumbling could be heard throughout the stadium all afternoon. “Take him off,” another sounded several times, directed at the dugout.

The frustration wasn’t limited to the stands either, with captain Virgil van Dijk shouting at Alexander-Arnold on more than one occasion. To be fair, the Dutchman moaned to everyone: Liverpool’s performances across the board showed a decline from this season’s standards.

Both of United’s goals came from attacks down the left, with Alexander-Arnold struggling

A whopping 53.8 percent of United’s attacks came down Alexander-Arnold’s flank – compared to just 28.1 percent at the other end – with Diogo Dalot particularly excellent. Both goals came from the left, with Lisandro Martinez and Alejandro Garnacho opening up the space.

It was clear that the Reds right-back was the target. Another statistic was even more damning. The Reds right-back did not win a single game in his time on the pitch, but Conor Bradley won his first ever game when he came on as a substitute.

Northern Ireland youngster Bradley also almost won the match in the dying embers after leaping past a defender and then trying his luck. What a story that would have been.

However, boss Arne Slot was in the minority with his view of Alexander-Arnold and, when asked whether his performance smacked of distraction, said: ‘I don’t believe in those things. Nine out of ten people will say it has affected him, but I’m the one who says it hasn’t.

‘What affected him is that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Dalot, two starters for Portugal who are great, great players. We have a fantastic player here in Diogo Jota and he doesn’t usually play for Portugal, so that tells you how much quality United have.

“It was clear that Trent had some difficult moments, as did we as a team. Most of the games he has played for this club have been very good. But I can’t believe that when people tell me he’s never played a bad game for this club, it’s happened before.’

Fair points made by Slot. And it’s probably unfair to criticize one performance too much. It wasn’t like he scored a few own goals or let the team down with a red card. After all, it was Alexander-Arnold’s searching cross that led to the penalty and made the score 2-1.

But the fans’ frustration was not with the incorrect passes, but with the mediocre defense. Too often he was too slow to close down his man, and often chased the shadows of Dalot, Fernandes et al.

Liverpool boss Arne Slot insisted the 26-year-old was not distracted by news of Real Madrid’s £20million bid this week, with his contract at Anfield set to expire at the end of the season.

Gary Neville (right) suggested Alexander-Arnold may feel disrespected in this country

If Bradley hadn’t missed the past month with a hamstring injury, he might have come on much sooner. Some fans pointed the finger at Slot for keeping Alexander-Arnold on for so long when he was clearly struggling. He was also often isolated and did not receive enough help from others.

Clearly, tightening and examining his performance makes it sound worse than it was. It was bad, that’s a fair assessment, but it certainly wasn’t the catastrophic mess some in the stands made it out to be.

Gary Neville put it well on Sky when he talked about how Alexander-Arnold is viewed in this country. “He probably feels that he doesn’t get the respect he deserves in this country,” said the former right back.

‘I have been critical of his defensive performance. If someone came for me, I would never leave my club. That doesn’t mean I was right.’

The 26-year-old will recover from this bad day at the office, but the problem he has now is that as this saga continues, fans will criticize him for things that other players may get a free pass for.

It’s reminiscent of a Gordon Ramsey Hell’s Kitchen clip, where the TV chef loses his cool at a contestant and calls him an “idiot,” only to then encourage another foodie for making the exact same mistake.

This Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid storyline is still in its infancy, but it already feels like the Scouser is losing control of the story.

He must either come out and remind the fans of his love for the club – and deny all accusations that he has not tried to silence the noise – or, as he has done for most of his career, put his talk on the keep field.

Right now he’s doing neither and the fanbase is being lulled into a state of unease. There is a Premier League title to be won and Liverpool cannot allow things like this to get in the way.