Carragher dissects Alexander-Arnold tactical flaws as Liverpool star’s troubles v ‘aggressive’ Man Utd are explained

Trent Alexander-Arnold was left over-exposed by Arne Slot’s tactical approach with the player skinned time and time again in Sunday’s draw against Manchester United, according to Jamie Carragher, though the Liverpool manager has defended his star’s performance and offered his own explanation for his troubles.

Alexander-Arnold is now a matter of months from seeing his contract at Anfield lapse, meaning he will be free to leave Liverpool on a free transfer at the season’s end. The 26-year-old Reds vice-captain can also sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas side of his choosing now and with Real Madrid very keenly on the player’s trail.

Indeed, the Spanish giants are keen to strike a deal for Alexander-Arnold now and have already seen one offer – believed to be worth a meagre €20m (£16.6m, $20.7m) – rejected by the Reds.

With Real Madrid reportedly readying an improved offer, a lot is happening behind the scenes for the player. It is little wonder he put in an uncharacteristic sub-par performance on Sunday with United more than worthy of their 2-2 draw at Anfield.

Gary Neville blamed his struggles entirely on Los Blancos, suggesting their unscrupulous transfer actions had affected the player’s mindset.

Now Carragher has done a deep tactical dive into Alexander-Arnold‘s struggles and explained why he was so far off the pace.

“This was a huge problem tactically in this position,” said Carragher on Monday Night Football. “It was far too easy to get the ball to Manchester United’s wing-back on the left side. We said [Diogo] Dalot wasn’t great going one-on-one last week, but he fancied it right from the start of the game, he thought he could go past Trent Alexander-Arnold. We saw it numerous times in the game.

“Look at [Bruno] Fernandes, on the front foot, aggressive. He was like that from minute one against Liverpool. This was shocking from Liverpool defensively, really poor. But that was brilliant from Fernandes and Martinez.”

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Arne Slot defends Alexander-Arnold display v Man Utd

In total, Alexander-Arnold lost possession 25 times and did not win a single duel – something that his replacement Conor Bradley managed within a minute of his introduction.

And while some feel Slot leaving Alexander-Arnold on for 86 minutes almost cost Liverpool the game with his withdrawal coming far too late in the day, the Dutchman – who had seemingly done nothing wrong before Sunday’s 2-2 draw in which many feel he was tactically out-manoeuvered by Ruben Amorim – has done his best to defend the performance of his right-back.

Asked if the speculation about Real Madrid affected him, Slot told the media: “I don’t believe in those things but I think it’s nine out of 10 people will tell you it affected him.

“But I am one of the 10 that tells you that I don’t think that affected him.

“What affected him is that he had to play Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot which are two starters for Portugal. Great, great, great players. We have a fantastic player here in Diogo Jota, and he’s not even playing for Portugal – mostly he’s not playing – so that tells you how much quality United has.

“No, it wasn’t that he had to play on his own against those two because Ryan (Gravenberch) was nine out of 10 times close to that situation. But, he was many times faced in a one-v-one situation against those players. I think that is more important for Trent to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot than it is the rumours that were there in the week.”

Alexander-Arnold told ‘to do a Mbappe’; Salah demands revealed

Meanwhile, reports in Spain are once again ‘at it’ as far as talking up a move to the Bernabeu is concerned for Alexander-Arnold.

Both Marca and AS have already stated exactly why Real Madrid are so ‘confident’ that a move to bring the player to Madrid can now be sealed – something which has also been rubberstamped by sources close to our transfer insider Fraser Fletcher.

Now a new update from Marca claims officials from Real Madrid have informed Alexander-Arnold that he must ‘do a Kylian Mbappe’ and continue to reject all Liverpool contract offers so he can secure a free transfer to the Spanish capital, it has been claimed.

One way Liverpool could get their revenge on Madrid for hunting Alexander-Arnold is by pursuing midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni.

Madrid famously beat Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool to Tchouameni’s capture in 2022, but he remains on the Reds’ shortlist.

Reports in the Spanish press claim Liverpool have drawn up a bid worth €50m to test Madrid’s resolve over the Frenchman.

And finally, a new update on Mo Salah’s future has come to light with Gary Neville revealing the exact amout the Egyptian is asking for to sign a new deal and amid claims that request has left FSG ‘in tears’.

How Alexander-Arnold’s wages over the years have risen