Liverpool vs Fulham: Trent Alexander-Arnold the new Steven Gerrard figure – Jamie Carragher
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s return from injury proved crucial as Liverpool returned to winning ways in the Premier League at Fulham.
In his second Reds start since coming back from two months out with a knee injury the defender scored a 32nd-minute free kick to open the scoring and impressed with his all-round ability on the ball, leading ex-Anfield defender Jamie Carragher to compare him to Steven Gerrard in his free role.
According to SofaScore stats on 21 April the 25-year-old was successful with 56 of his 71 passes (79%), while one was a key pass, as he created a big chance to go with his excellent goal.
He was also successful with his one dribble attempt (100%), although in what may have been a mark of his ambition in possession he only found the target with one of his four crosses (25%) and five of his 13 long balls (38.4%).
Either way Carragher was blown away by the England international’s quality, and marvelled at the fact that it was nominally a defender who was being allowed to seek out possession wherever he could find it, when it would traditionally be forward-thinking stars such as Gerrard, or Manchester City standout Kevin De Bruyne, who were given that freedom.
Jurgen Klopp benefits from Liverpool injury return
He said live on Sky Sports after the game: “The goal plays a big part, of course that was a great goal, but just watching him play, he’s just come back into the team from a long time out.
“We shouldn’t forget the lad who came in for him, Conor Bradley, he was absolutely fantastic, out of this world, but [Alexander-Arnold] is unique. We’ve said this before, I think I’ve described him in the past as almost like having Kevin De Bruyne playing at right-back.
“I’m now looking at him today and thinking he’s got a free role, it just feels like he’s that good of a player it’s like, ‘you go and find where you get on the ball’.
“When you think about players in the past that role would always be there for say like a Steven Gerrard for us, he’d be that good a player on the ball, he’d find the space, but that would always be an attacking player.”
Jurgen Klopp can arguably afford to have a full-back doing largely what he wants in a game where Liverpool are expected to be the stronger side, even if an away trip to London still makes that a slightly risky move for the Reds.
Alexander-Arnold would be far from the first attacking right-back to have his defensive abilities called into question, and against stronger opposition he can be found wanting in that department.
Given his quality on the ball and apparent weakness going back towards his own goal it is somewhat of a surprise that it took until relatively recently for Klopp and Gareth Southgate to use him midfield.
But his place on the right of the backline paid off in West London to leave Carragher making glowing comparisons to the outright star of the side he played in for so long.
The midweek Europa League exit was another blow to the manager’s farewell tour and the Premier League is a big ask now, but Alexander-Arnold being available should give Liverpool a better chance of competing to the final day.
In other Liverpool news, the women’s team were fired to victory over Bristol City by a wonderful Marie Hobinger strike.
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