‘I’ll knock him down’: Klopp is ready to shut up anyone criticising Liverpool star after performance vs Arsenal

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Jurgen Klopp says he’s ready to ‘knock down’ anyone criticising Liverpool star, Trent Alexander-Arnold. The boss has had enough.

Liverpool beat Arsenal 2-0 at the Emirates on Wednesday evening – a fantastic display from the Reds. This was a side who had won five on the bounce, after all.

But after a difficult first half, Liverpool took control of the game and found two excellent goals. Thiago assisted Diogo Jota for the first before substitute Roberto Firmino netted a second from an Andy Robertson cross.

It was fantastic and, defensively, the Reds were sound. Arsenal only actually had one real chance here and it came from a Thiago assist.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t dangerous, though. Gabriel Martinelli was electric down Liverpool’s right-flank, giving Trent Alexander-Arnold a torrid time.

The 23-year-old did defend him comfortably enough in the end, however. Despite Martinelli’s running, he didn’t actually create much of anything. After the game, Jurgen Klopp want to point that out – and threaten anyone criticising the Liverpool star.

Jurgen Klopp has had enough

“Trent defended incredibly,” he told Sky Sports. “Martinelli is such a talented boy and it’s really tricky.

“If anybody says Trent can’t defend they can come to me and I’ll knock him down. Honestly, I can’t hear that anymore. I don’t know what the boy has to do.”

Everyone knows how good Alexander-Arnold is going forward. That’s not news. But he certainly gets far too much stick defensively.

Not only is he frequently isolated and defending on the counter but Alexander-Arnold doesn’t actually demonstrate any signs of being a weak link. Liverpool had the best defence in the country for both 2018/19 and 2019/20 – that’s not possible if your right-back can’t defend.

So we’re not surprised that Klopp has had enough. It’s ridiculous that Alexander-Arnold get so much stick and it really is time people stopped.

And if they won’t, they need only pay the boss a visit. He’ll show them what he thinks.