Gary Neville has labeled Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold a “freak” ahead of his imminent move to Real Madrid, insisting that the Reds ace can do things that he could never have dreamt of.
While Alexander-Arnold has often been criticized for his perceived lack of defensive abilities, he has always been one of the most creative players in the world from full-back. At Liverpool, he has often been the focal point of the attack from an albeit unusual position on the field.
“So basically, if I couldn’t feed it in and I was going to cross it, if I couldn’t feed it into people’s feet and I was going to cross it, it was [a case of just putting it into an area] in case,” Neville said on the latest Stick To Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
“I’m going to put it into the back post. I’m going to put it into the near post. [But] Trent is an actual freak. That’s a freak. That is honestly a freak watching him cross a ball, that is not normal.”
Earlier this week, Alexander-Arnold confirmed that he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season. In an emotional video that was released, he explained the decision.
“I have never known anything else,” he said. “This decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally.
(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“I know a lot of people will say I should have said sooner, a lot of people will say maybe I waited for the right time. But I felt personally the focus should always be on the pitch, should always be about the football.
“When we were in a title race and trying to push for trophies, it’s about making the right decision for the team and trying not to distract the team and take away from what we’re doing on the pitch.
“For me, it was always to do it after the season was kind of done. Not so much the final game, but when there was nothing else really to play for.
“Now that we’ve won the league and we’ve been able to celebrate it and celebrate such an amazing achievement, I felt like now is the right time to get it off my chest and tell the fans the truth, and now is that time.”
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Liverpool tried everything to keep Alexander-Arnold at the club, including offering to make him the best-paid full-back in the Premier League. However, there was one thing it couldn’t offer: the chance to try something new, having been with the Reds for two decades.
Liverpool.com says: Neville is right about Alexander-Arnold’s supreme ability, though it would have been nice had that been the biggest focus when the Liverpool number 66 has been analyzed during his senior career to date. Instead, his defensive capabilities have usually been most discussed, or at least always brought into the conversation, which hasn’t always been fair.
One of the benefits that Alexander-Arnold finds in Spain is that his reputation in England might increase if the main clips that people see are his passes, rather than how he defends one-vs-one. That should be the case now, but hasn’t always been.
