‘Where were you?’: Ferdinand offers ‘only’ defence of Alexander-Arnold for Ajax’s goal tonight

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Rio Ferdinand says there’s only one defence of Trent Alexander-Arnold after Ajax scored a goal down his side. Liverpool still won the game.

Liverpool will be thrilled with their 2-1 win over Ajax. The victory at Anfield keeps them in a strong position for Champions League progression – even if the 4-1 defeat at Napoli still stings.

The Reds did what they had to do on Tuesday night, though. Despite conceding a first-half equaliser, Liverpool kept pushing until they found a winner through Joel Matip late on.

But it wasn’t perfect as they did still concede that goal. It’s a goal that Jurgen Klopp also saw a negative reaction to, and it did feel all too easy for Ajax.

The Dutch champions found a pass in behind Trent Alexander-Arnold that broke Liverpool apart. A ball into the box allowed Mohammed Kudus to finish emphatically.

It did not reflect well on the right-back, then, and Alexander-Arnold received criticism. Rio Ferdinand, however, doesn’t believe it was entirely the Scouser’s fault, howeve.r

“The only thing I’ll say in protection of Trent here, right, if I’m playing here [as Matip], I’m his eyes and ears there,” Ferdinand told BT Sport. “And I’m saying to Trent, ‘anything to feet, you go and get it’.

“This area here, behind the full-back, was my area. I say to my right-back ‘you go to the ball, go to the player, and if the ball goes over your head, that is me. And I’m not there, you can shout at me and it’s my fault’.

“But are they having those conversations? Is that communication being had before or during the game. Because as this finishes, I don’t see Trent saying to Matip ‘where were you?'”.

Trent Alexander-Arnold on the Ajax goal

It’s easy to see where Ferdinand is coming from there. Alexander-Arnold certainly should have done better as he was caught in no man’s land with the pass in behind, but there should have been quicker cover.

One other issue was how slowly the right-back recovered. Alexander-Arnold didn’t react fast enough once the ball did get behind him and that wasn’t a good look.

Still, Liverpool will take heart in the fact that Ajax only really got in behind on this sole occasion. Yes, they found a goal from it but the Reds defended well overall. You’d accept a team that good only exposing you once.

And as Ferdinand says, the team likely could have done better as a whole. Alexander-Arnold wasn’t perfect – far from it – but the goal was far from a disaster for him.