Without any iota of doubt, Trent Alexander-Arnold is the Chief daddy of all English right backs with the ball at his feet.
It is no debate, if you think there is, what about this.
Since the 2018/2019 season, he has been the player with the most assists from set plays, most expected assists and successful crosses while he ranks second for most assists and most chances created behind Kevin De Bruyne.
But the question has always been how good is he defensively. This has led to someone like Frank Leboeuf, former French world cup winner, and ESPN pundit coming out to say that Trent is a championship defender.
Dear reader, what you are about to read is nothing but the absolute truth as you can go on to verify these stats after reading this from Fbref.com.
Below, I will be telling you how Trent has faired defensively when compared with Reece James, Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier who alongside him are the best English right-backs using statistics from their whole Premier League career.
Only Trippier has recorded more tackles than Trent and only Kyle Walker has recorded more successful pressures( an attempt to get the ball back from the opponent through pressing) than him despite being the player with the third most appearances of these four.
For a player that is so useless defensively, it will interest you to know that Trent Alexander Arnold has more tackles plus interception than the other three and has only been shown a yellow 16 times, same as Reece James who has made 35 appearances lesser than him and he has never been set off.
What an overrated player!
This might also explain that he has been dribbled past more than the other three.
Listen, I am not saying Trent is as defensively solid as the legendary Cafu
In fact, stats will not tell you how he watched with no interest as Napoli battered Liverpool in Naples and it will not tell you how he was unaware of Vinicius Jr’s presence in the build-up to Real Madrid’s goal in the last champions league final.
His biggest defensive flaw is not being able to recognize danger and never the willingness to defend or how to do so. But come on, this young man is 23.
Even with this flaw, he is still part of a Liverpool defence that has kept the most clean sheets in two of the last four Premier League seasons playing a high-line.
What I am saying is that the notion that Trent can’t defend is so absurd, a BIG LIE and an agenda aiming to diminish the outstanding achievements of this young man.
Yes, the young man is struggling at the moment which happens to every player, his criticism has been largely out-blown.
Don’t also forget that this is a guy that was part of the defense that conceded the least goals in the top five leagues in Europe last season with his side being the most targeted by opponents.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is 23, won everything there is to be won at the club level, gotten nominated in the PFA team of the year (nomination done by his fellow players)
If you still believe that he does nothing defensively, it is time you re-evaluate that with the apparent evidence presented in this article and throw your misinformed opinion in the pacific ocean.
Thanks for reading.
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