Trent Alexander Arnold and Virgil Van Dijk
Trent Alexander-Arnold believes criticism of Mohamed Salah is “unfair” and has backed the Liverpool forward to regain his scoring touch. Salah has not scored from open play in his last 10 Reds appearances after drawing another blank in the 3-2 FA Cup semi-final win over Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday.
Trent Alexander Arnold said: “I think it’s unfair. The levels he gets himself too, he’s kind of a victim of his own success. He’s still top goalscorer, he’s one behind me in terms of assists (in the Premier League) and people are saying he’s having a bad run of form?! He’s nearly top goalscorer in the Champions League as well. What he has done for us over the last five seasons has been outstanding. Look, it’s unfair for people to say he is going through a bad patch. We all have belief that he is going to score goals for us. It’s only a matter of time before he puts it in the back of the net again.”
Alexander-Arnold has also been a target for criticism in recent times, most notably over his defending despite being a regular in the second-meanest defence in the Premier League after leaders City. But having subdued Phil Foden on Saturday for the second time in six days,
Trent Alexander Arnold said: “I know there are questions about my defending but it doesn’t really bother me. I know my strengths, I know the weaknesses that I need to work on. People are entitled to their opinions – for me it is just about making sure I am playing every game and making sure that I am fit and healthy to produce the performance levels I need.”
Alexander-Arnold benefited from a tweak in Liverpool’s approach with the Reds having had their high line exposed far too often during the 2-2 Premier League draw at City last Sunday.
Trent Alexander Arnold said: “You need to learn from previous games and when you play a team so soon, six days apart, you can learn a lot of things. We decided to drop off a little step further. We played a high line but we just didn’t give them the opportunity to play in behind us as much as they wanted. It worked a treat for us. We pressed them high, we won the ball back when we lost it and in that first half, I don’t think I have known a team to run over Manchester City as we did. It was a difficult game against difficult opposition – they are a different breed to anything else in the world. But I think the first half in particular we were outstanding, we pressed them how we wanted to press and it was a really good performance from us.”
City stand a point clear of Liverpool going into the final seven games of the Premier League season, but when asked if Saturday’s result could have a psychological bearing on the title battle,
Trent Alexander-Arnold said: “Over the last few years, they have shown they have got strong character and that setbacks don’t really bother them too much. All we can hope for is that a team takes points off them and we are in a position to pounce on that. We can only win our games and see what happens. Hopefully if we win all our games, someone will do us a favour.”
With the League Cup in the bag and an FA Cup final to come, the Reds are also preparing for a Champions League semi-final as they harbour hopes of an unprecedented quadruple.
Trent Alexander-Arnold added: “We are now in a position to enjoy it and, to be honest, anyone who doesn’t enjoy it – fans, players, whoever – then, well, it’s a massive disappointment if you can’t enjoy it. Hopefully it won’t be once in a lifetime but this is obviously the first time we have been in this position. To still be in with a shot of winning every trophy in the middle of April is outstanding. It shows the quality we have got in the squad to win games. It’s about making sure we carry on and sustain it for another month or so.”
