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Trent Alexander-Arnold was forever scrutinized when he was a Liverpool player, often coming under unfair criticism for his defensive abilities, where his deficiencies were exaggerated.
But in joining Real Madrid this summer, even though to an extent he is out of sight and out of mind in La Liga, the questions were only ever going to get louder when they arrived. For all that his passing range has been marveled at, many have picked holes in his defending.
"He’s going to leave anyway so why not... it might be the first gift I can give Xabi Alonso..." Arne Slot said at the back end of the season, offering some intruiging insight.
"I wasn’t completely happy with every single minute he was on the training ground," he said. "In my opinion, there were certain moments he could do more, to put it mildly."
In this international break, Thomas Tuchel left Alexander-Arnold out of his England roster. Back in May, the German said something along similar lines to Slot.
"I can see that sometimes he relies heavily on his offensive contributions and gives not so much emphasis on the defensive discipline and effort," Tuchel outlined.
"This major impact that he had for Liverpool over so many years... if he wants to have this impact in the English national team, then he has to take the defensive part very, very seriously."
"Arne Slot said something when [Trent] had moved on which was probably a little bit of a dig really," Jamie Carragher explained on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet.
"He sort of said something along the lines of, 'If I’ll give Xabi Alonso a little bit of advice, you might need to push Trent in training a little bit'."
Ian Wright immediately reacted by saying "Wow... parting shot", while Roy Keane described the remarks as a "Sneaky dig in the ribs".
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Carragher doubled down, adding: "When your managers are saying that it’s that little bit of... ‘Come on’.
"We all know how good he is. He’s amazing. But I think it’s probably getting to the stage, what is he 26, 27? where he’s not a young kid. He’s played hundreds of games."
Keane then concluded with a damning assessment. "When’s the penny going to drop?" he asked.
Real Madrid fans will not be slow to express their disappointment if Alexander-Arnold doesn't quickly live up to the billing, not least with Dani Carvajal waiting in the wings. With the World Cup already on the horizon, the clock is ticking.
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