As media, quite often you attend a match with an idea of what angle you’ll be writing about post-match and sometimes the events of the match dictate the angle. At Anfield on Sunday it was both, as the party mood in the stands turned sour by the introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool fans, with the sun again making for a perfect day on Merseyside, extended their party from Tottenham two weeks ago. The stands were awash with red shirts and plenty of banners and flags pointing to the club’s 20th league title success, plus a couple referencing another trophyless season for their opponents.
‘Where’s your European Cup,’ chanted The Kop, which later turned to ‘Best team in Europe, you’re having a laugh’ as Arne Slot’s side raced into the lead thanks to two goals in 87 seconds.
Liverpool stormed into a two-goal lead – with questions of Trent Alexander-Arnold hanging over the game
But, while Liverpool looked great on the pitch and sounded superb in the stands, there was an elephant in the room, lurking on the Reds’ bench.
This was the first game since Alexander-Arnold had announced his decision to leave Liverpool, with a free transfer move to Real Madrid set to bring down the curtain on his association with his boyhood club. Slot had already explained that Conor Bradley, the heir to the throne at right-back, would start the match, but the question was whether Alexander-Arnold would be in the squad.
For any supporter arriving at Anfield, they knew that Alexander-Arnold being in the squad would mean a sideshow for what was to come. It was inevitable that the reception would be mixed – although, to many, quite how negative the reception was was a little surprising.
Many hoped Alexander-Arnold would simply be ignored. It would be the best way to handle the situation. And that’s how it began. There was little reaction when his name was read out pre-match, and again while warming up in the first half (albeit in front of the less vociferous Main Stand).
But with Bradley on a yellow card and having not completed 90 minutes since the start of February, Slot needed a sub. “I have a world-class full-back on the bench, I bring him in,” he said pragmatically post-match.
As Alexander-Arnold put on the red shirt on the bench, The Kop made pointed references to loyalty by belting out the song for Steven Gerrard – “a Scouser born and bred” – followed by ‘Bring on your Internazionale’ which features the lyric “Real Madrid, who the f**k you trying to kid…”
It’s at this point that it’s worth noting that Liverpool supporters see Real Madrid as a main rival. They are two of the three sides to have won the European Cup the most times and have contested two Champions League finals in the last decade, the Reds losing both. In that time there’s also been a quarter-final loss and a knockout defeat that inflicted Liverpool’s heaviest home European loss in the process.
Said Alexander-Arnold himself in an interview earlier this season, referring to Man City and Real Madrid: “Probably they are our two biggest rivals in Europe and domestically over the last five or six years.”
Liverpool fans see the Spanish club as not just a main rival but also the antithesis of what Liverpool as a club and a city stand for.
They’re the Ballon d’Or club – something that Alexander-Arnold has outlined his desire to win, seeking individual acclaim over the team. Liverpool is a club that celebrates hard-working, humble heroes. “I believe in everyone working for each other, everyone having a share of the rewards,” said Bill Shankly in one of his most famous quotes. “It’s the way I see football, the way I see life.”
Alexander-Arnold has chosen a different life, a life where celebrity and ego go hand in hand in Madrid. That’s his choice and, in his own words, he knew the decision would not sit well with the fanbase. “People won’t be happy with the decision,” he said in his farewell video.
An unnecessary distraction
Trent Alexander-Arnold received “a few boos” when he was subbed on for Conor Bradley 😳 pic.twitter.com/aQfWodxoV4May 11, 2025
It is, though, quite sad that this has become a distraction when the club are celebrating its first title with supporters in 35 years.
And whether a supporter agrees or takes part in the booing is almost irrelevant, it’s a distraction that need not happen.
Slot could have put a line under it all by announcing before the match that he would use only players who are committed to the club for next season. Nobody would have argued it, even Alexander-Arnold would have surely understood it.
Instead, Slot, has explained that he will continue to use Alexander-Arnold in the final two matches, including the final home game against Crystal Palace that will see the Reds lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield.
Insisted Slot: “The thing I consider is I want to win a game of football and if we think we can win this one with Trent, I owe it to his teammates and to the fans, because they hired me to win as many games of football as possible.”
It’s a line of thinking which is understandable but also pretty flawed, with Alexander-Arnold’s introduction proving counterproductive in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal, being introduced with Liverpool ahead at 2-1.
This is where Slot’s insistence that Alexander-Arnold’s introduction wasn’t a distraction is quite baffling.
As Alexander-Arnold arrived onto the pitch, Mohamed Salah made a gesture towards The Kop to stop the boos, actions that were repeated post-match by Cody Gakpo and Dominik Szoboszlai. It quite clearly soured the atmosphere in the stands, and players are only human, they too would have been shocked by their teammate and friend receiving such a reception.
Andy Robertson spoke well on his feelings, saying: “There’s a lot of emotion around it [..] it is, of course, an emotional decision and it’s not been an easy one, but he’s made the decision and it’s not nice to see your friend get booed and it wasn’t nice. We can’t tell people how to act, but I can tell you how I feel about it.”
Again, this is quite sad given the incredible scenes the players and supporters shared together on that same pitch a fortnight ago.
Slot, though, doesn’t think it could prove a problem in celebrating the title: “I don’t think there is any possibility whatever can happen that can ‘take the edge’ off us winning this 20th league title.”
Again, a line of thinking that appears pretty flawed by the evidence of Sunday.
As for the supporters, it’s a shame that the divide over the reaction has caused friction at what should be a time of harmony. It is, though, quite strange to suggest that Liverpool supporters should be sending one of their best players off to Madrid, in his prime, with their best wishes. Quite what message does that send to others in the squad, such as Ibrahima Konate who has been linked with a move to Real and whose contract is up in a year?
No Liverpool supporter or player should see Liverpool as a stepping stone or a feeder club for Real Madrid. Liverpool is the destination and Liverpool supporters regard their club alongside Real Madrid as the biggest in the world.
If this was a Barcelona player opting to make the move to Madrid in their prime, the reaction would have been far worse, just ask Luis Figo. As Alexander-Arnold himself admitted, Real might not be a domestic rival but they are a European rival, challenging for the same trophy that Liverpool supporters have a strong affinity to win.
Alexander-Arnold has chosen, rather than helping win European Cups for his boyhood club to actively work against that happening. No wonder some fans aren’t happy clapping him off to Madrid.
