ESPN pundit Alejandro Moreno has insisted that Trent Alexander-Arnold cannot be the most valuable player in the Liverpool squad as he believes that Jurgen Klopp has had to hide him to protect him defensively.
Moreno was speaking on ESPN after journalist Sam Tighe put the England international at number three in his own list of Liverpool’s most important players this season.
Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to divide a lot of opinion. Last season was a really tough one for the 25-year-old as he seemed to come in for an endless amount of criticism over his defensive frailties.
Trent Alexander-Arnold criticised again
He remains one of the very best passers of the ball. Speaking on his own YouTube channel, Ben Foster said that Alexander-Arnold was outrageous in Liverpool’s win over Aston Villa.
That may help explain why Tighe put Alexander-Arnold at number three on the list behind Mohamed Salah and Alisson Becker.
Moreno was clearly baffled by how high Alexander-Arnold found himself. And he insisted that there was no way that the academy graduate could be considered their third most valuable player.
“Here’s the thing about Trent: Jurgen Klopp has had to find a place for him on the field to hide him. So that defensively he doesn’t get exposed. If there’s a player that you have to hide on the field, then he cannot be your most valuable player,” he told ESPN.
“The reason that Trent Alexander-Arnold is not playing right-back for Liverpool is because he is horrendous defensively. So they’ve had to find a different way for him to play.”
Jurgen Klopp right to try and play to Liverpool star’s strengths
Moreno is extremely unfair on Alexander-Arnold in his comments. Yes, he is not the best defender. And some of the mistakes he made, particularly last season, would have led to many players being dropped a lot sooner.
However, he is absolutely world-class going forward. It is almost ridiculous to suggest that Jurgen Klopp is hiding Alexander-Arnold rather than working on a way to play to his strengths.
If he felt that he needed hiding, Klopp would not be working so hard to get him in the team. It would just be easier to drop him altogether.
It is no different to a manager moving a player around the attack to find their best spot. If there was a way to keep Alexander-Arnold in your team, why would you not do everything you could to make that happen?
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