Jurgen Klopp gives impassioned defence of Trent Alexander-Arnold after latest blunder
Trent Alexander-Arnold was replaced by Jurgen Klopp in the second half of Liverpool’s 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace on Saturday night after making a bad mistake
Trent Alexander-Arnold was substituted off against Crystal Palace to help cope with his workload and isn’t suffering from a lack of confidence, according to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
Liverpool were held 0-0 by Palace on Saturday night as their hopes of climbing the table towards the top four suffered a damper. The Reds had won their last two Premier League games but lacked quality in attack against Palace as Diogo Jota and Mohamed Salah both hit the woodwork.
Alexander-Arnold endured a difficult night, luckily his mistake went unpunished as Jean-Philippe Mateta hit the bar after being dispossessed by Jeffrey Schlupp. The Liverpool right-back gave the ball away an incredible 20 times in the first half alone and was substituted off in the 70th minute, with Klopp bringing on James Milner.
Asked about the decision in his post-game press conference, Klopp said: “Trent plays all the games for us and we considered before the game if it would be a game too many for him, but he started. The reason was just because of that.”
Klopp then passionately defended Alexander-Arnold when asked if he suffered from a lack of confidence. “NO. In the few games we won, he was one of our much, much, much, much better players,” he said.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold, when he’s not performing, everyone is talking about it. When he’s playing nobody talks about it unless he’s involved in goals. In the last two league games he prepared super goals.
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“He’s fine. It’s just the number of games. We dropped him off and he will have an extra day to rest and he will be fine.”
Alexander-Arnold has played in all of Liverpool’s 23 Premier League games this season, starting from 20. But he’s far from his usually high standards, with just one goal and two assists in the league compared to two goals and 12 Assists in 32 games last season.
He wasn’t the only Liverpool player to struggle at Selhurst Park. Naby Keita made a rare start in midfield but picked up a yellow card leaving Klopp feeling he had no choice but to pull him back for Harvey Elliott at half-time.
“Naby got a yellow card early on and then two fouls, not really bad fouls but situations that took him out of the game and he couldn’t get in touch with the players anymore,” he said. “That was the reason (he went away).”
Liverpool need not dwell long on their poor performance at the Palace with another Premier League game against Wolves on the horizon on Wednesday. They then host Manchester United in what promises to be a big game at Anfield next weekend.