“Whenever I tried to stop him, he showed me what I’ve never seen before…To be honest, No defender will like to face such a tricky player”: Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk names ONE Man United’s player as the most tricky player he has ever faced
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, on Monday, defended Trent Alexander-Arnold following his underwhelming performance against Manchester United, dismissing claims that Real Madrid’s reported interest has negatively impacted his teammate as he believes Man United’s star Bruno Fernandes was too good to be handled by his teammate.
Alexander-Arnold was at fault for Lisandro Martinez’s opener in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Anfield, falling short of his usual high standards.
The right-back’s below-par display comes amid ongoing speculation about his future with the Premier League leaders.
The 26-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the season, allowing him to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club. Spanish giants Real Madrid have reportedly made an approach to sign him, but Liverpool are believed to have rejected the bid.
After Sunday’s game, former Manchester United captain Roy Keane criticised Alexander-Arnold’s performance.
“There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid — the way he’s defending, he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this. He’s got to do better.
“We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today. My goodness, it’s like schoolboy stuff,” Keane told Sky Sports.
Fourth-tier Tranmere Rovers responded to Keane’s remark with a light-hearted post on X, featuring a picture of their full-back Cameron Norman alongside the caption, “Trent to Tranmere, Roy? Nah, we’re alright, thanks.”
Former United defender Gary Neville also weighed in, suggesting that speculation over Alexander-Arnold’s future may have been a distraction.
“The supposed bid from Real Madrid is bad timing for him. I think that will have unnerved him. Real Madrid are such a powerful club.
“There are three reasons for that performance — he has played like this before, he just had a bad game, or his mind was affected by all the talk. I thought his passing and forward play was the worst I’ve seen,” Neville said.
Liverpool are still hopeful of persuading Alexander-Arnold to sign a new contract, but he is entitled to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season.
Van Dijk, who is also out of contract at the end of the campaign, expressed confidence in Alexander-Arnold’s ability to handle the distractions as Liverpool continue their push for the quadruple.
“I’m fine with it. Trent has his people around him, his family, and we are there as well. He wants to perform in the best way possible, like we all do.
“That is the main focus. In my opinion — maybe ask him — the distraction is the game itself,” Van Dijk said.
Arne Slot praise Man United’s players
Arne Slot has highlighted the performances of both Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot as key factors behind Trent Alexander-Arnold’s poor display in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United.
The 26-year-old was arguably the worst player on the pitch for either side at Anfield, but lasted until the 86th minute before he was replaced by young full-back Conor Bradley. Alexander-Arnold didn’t win a single duel during his time on the pitch, a feat Bradley managed within just a minute of being introduced into the match.
Alexander-Arnold’s poor performance raised questions of whether intense transfer interest from Real Madrid has distracted him, but after the match, his manager cited the brilliance of two United players as a key factor behind his quiet display.
Asked if he felt most of United’s threat came down Liverpool’s righthand side, he told Sky Sports: “Yeah, I think they did. That is also due to Bruno Fernandes, who is a very, very good player and he played a very good game. United have shown many times if things are really difficult for them, they can show up.
“They did cause us some problems, Dalot was a threat as well on the left side. We are talking about two starters of the Portugal national team and that is why. It is not always easy to prevent them from getting into dangerous situations, which happened a few times. Unfortunately, that led to two goals.”
When further pressed on the poor performance from the Liverpool right-back, he added: “Trent has played mostly very good games for the club. Today was not his best game but that had to do with them as well. Sometimes Ryan [Gravenberch] was not close enough to him so it was a two-on-one situation. I would put it more on the quality of [Diogo] Dalot and Bruno Fernandes.”
