Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t have the best performance of his career against Crystal Palace on Saturday. It’s a reminder to us all – he still needs patience.
Liverpool saw off the Eagles after a late Roberto Firmino winner – but it was a lucky escape. Palace created chances and had equalised late on but, yet again, the Reds found a late goal.
The poor performance can largely be put down to Palace nullifying the full-backs. Andros Townsend and Wilfried Zaha both pushed up and pressured Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson.
That, in turn, meant Liverpool struggled to create going forward. They didn’t even manage a shot on target in the first half.
Alexander-Arnold struggled in particular. He was erratic with his passing – an attempted 40-yard backpass to Alisson went out for a corner, before an attempted cross-field volley went straight to Townsend. It wasn’t his day on the ball.
Zaha troubled him at times, too, and, all in all, it wasn’t Alexander-Arnold’s finest.
But that’s okay – he’s still a very young player.
It’s easy to forget that Alexander-Arnold is still just 21 but his performance against Palace was a reminder of that. This is a young player who is still learning and will, inevitably, have poor games.
There’s a spotlight on him, though, that amplifies these poor showings. Alexander-Arnold isn’t just a right-back but also the chief creator in the side. When he doesn’t play well, the team suffers.
It’s an awful lot of pressure on such a young player but the fact that he’s achieved so much in spite of that is quite incredible.
But here is the downside. Alexander-Arnold won’t perform every week, just as any other 21-year-old will have poor, almost naive performances.
Liverpool have a very special talent there, but he still needs plenty of patience.
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