Frank Leboeuf has suggested that what Trent Alexander-Arnold did during the second-half of the Merseyside derby was very strange as Liverpool were beaten by Everton at Goodison Park.
It proved to be a miserable night for Jurgen Klopp’s men as they failed to move back level with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table, and now find themselves just one point above Manchester City having played two games more.
Certainly, the attacking players had a nightmare, with Mohamed Salah amongst those to fluff his lines in front of goal.
But it was also remarkable how poor Liverpool looked at the back against an Everton side who had only scored 34 league goals all season before last night.
Jarrad Branthwaite broke the deadlock during the first-half, but it was Dominic Calvert-Lewin who doubled the lead after the break to put Sean Dyche’s side on the brink of the three points.
Trent Alexander-Arnold criticised for ‘strange’ actions in Liverpool loss
What was alarming about the second goal was how easy it was for Calvert-Lewin to head home, with Trent Alexander-Arnold barely making any challenge on the forward.
Virgil van Dijk was clearly furious with how simple it was. And speaking on ESPN, Frank Leboeuf was baffled that Alexander-Arnold seemed to be so passive at that moment.
“I don’t know what he thinks because he turns his head to Calvert-Lewin, looks at him, so I guess he feels that he’s going to get the ball, he doesn’t come close to him,” he said.
“He doesn’t want to go for the fight, and that’s very strange because what went through his mind to not go there and try and disturb Calvert-Lewin? And I think it’s just because he simply doesn’t know how to defend.”
Defender switching off against well-drilled Everton side seems almost unforgivable at this stage of the season
There is no need to have the debate over Alexander-Arnold’s defensive frailties as that seems to have been spoken about a lot over the last couple of years.
Ultimately, the academy graduate is never going to be as good defensively as Andrew Robertson, but he more than makes up for that with what he does at the other end of the pitch, with Alexander-Arnold scoring an outstanding free-kick at the weekend.
But anyone can see that Liverpool made everything so simple for Calvert-Lewin, and it does appear that Alexander-Arnold has to take a large part of the responsibility for that moment.
The post 'That's very strange': Pundit baffled by what Trent Alexander-Arnold did in second-half vs Everton last night appeared first on TBR Football.
