Danny Murphy believes Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘faces a challenge’ to be selected as part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The tournament will be held in a rather controversial manner during the months of November and December and all major leagues in Europe will see their traditional match schedule interrupted.
The Liverpool full-back, like many of his team-mates, has had a rocky start to the season and the Reds were thrashed 4-1 by Napoli in the Champions League earlier this week.
Murphy hopes our No. 66 will be included in the Three Lions squad, but admitted the scouser needs to make ‘improvements’.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold has fallen short of his usual high standards against Manchester United and Napoli and faces the challenge of being picked for the World Cup,” the ex-Rojo wrote in his column for the Daily Mail.
“There are defensive lessons he has to learn, and the coaches, staff and team-mates at Liverpool should help him.
“I hope Gareth Southgate names him in the next team on Thursday because in tournament football you need people like Trent who can open up a defence. But there are improvements he needs to make.
“The best players make good decisions at the right time, but if Jordan Henderson is injured, Trent can find himself isolated when he advances without having the same defensive insurance around him.
“He turns 24 next month and should have enough experience to adapt his game. Against Napoli, he was not helped by others around him, such as Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho, who also struggled for his form.
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“He has to look at his positional game and smell danger a little quicker. He’s been given free rein for a long time, but he should better protect himself, even if it means sacrificing a few runs forward. Liverpool have been accommodating this season, but I’m not talking about the players not giving 100 per cent. It’s more of a lack of sharpness or not doing the basics when you haven’t had competition for your position.
“Sometimes I slip into the comfort zone and needed a jolt. I’m not saying Trent is the same, but the Liverpool managers could spend more time with him analyzing the defensive parts of his game that need work. He is a good listener, so his problems are easily solved. Small details can make a big difference.
“Right back is one of the toughest positions to call up with England due to competition from Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and Reece James. Trent has an X factor that his rivals don’t have, but he has to look at his qualities in order to become more complete.
“Liverpool have lost just twice this season and bounced back from the first loss by beating Bournemouth 9-0. Ajax will be a tougher test on Tuesday, but they need the same attitude. Jurgen Klopp has talked about reinventing the team, which usually means a tactical or personnel change. Might consider switching Joe Gomez to right back for a couple of games as he’s a natural one-on-one defender.”
The 23-year-old has started all seven of Liverpool’s games so far this season but produced a lackluster performance against Napoli on Wednesday.
However, Murphy is right to point out that Trent was not helped by his teammates.
Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk also had bad nights against the Serie A side, while Fabinho was not at his best to protect the defence.
Alexander-Arnold’s hunger to go back and fight for the ball when he lost it just wasn’t there and it was rather strange to see him considering the campaign started last month.
Some have questioned whether the England international may be fatigued and believe he may benefit from a brief spell out of the side, but the problem facing Jurgen Klopp is that he doesn’t have a senior right-back to call on to replace Alexander. Arnold.
Gomez can operate at full-back, but that’s far from ideal considering the fact that he’s a centre-back, while James Milner can also perform adequately at right-back if needed.
In his day, the Academy graduate is the best right-back in the world, but he is often criticized for his defensive displays and his performances so far this season have done little to dispute those claims.
It will be interesting to see if Klopp names the scouser in the starting eleven when Ajax visit Anfield on Tuesday night.
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