Arne Slot has admitted that Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘proved’ the new Liverpool head coach was wrong following an early concern developed about the Reds’ vice-captain.
It has not always been the start to the season that Alexander-Arnold would have planned for as Slot gets settled into the Anfield hot seat. While the 25-year-old has started in each of the Merseyside natives’ Premier League games so far, he has failed to hear the final whilst once.
Three matches in a row before the international break saw Slot substitute Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool beat Ipswich Town, Brentford and Manchester United without them conceding any goals. Taking the right-back off against Brentford particularly left Alexander-Arnold irate.
Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘proved’ to Arne Slot he can play the full 90 minutes at Liverpool
Despite Liverpool recording a 2-0 win at home, Alexander-Arnold was visibly frustrated after Slot substituted him against Brentford. TV cameras also quickly zoomed in on the pair whilst in a tense discussion on the bench, and the right-back’s frustrations stayed clear at full-time.
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Slot continued to start and bench Alexander-Arnold as Liverpool beat Manchester United as Conor Bradley made his third consecutive appearance as a substitute after the 70th minute. The 21-year-old has so far enjoyed 13, 18 and then 14 minute long appearances this season.
But watching Alexander-Arnold produce two Player of the Match performances for England, whilst playing the full 90, in the September international break has convinced Slot that he is ready to do so for Liverpool. The coach even concedes he may have been ready beforehand.
Slot said in his pre-match press conference this Friday: “He proved he could do 90 minutes, but maybe he could have done that before, as well. In the Ipswich game, I saw he became a bit tired towards the end of the game, but he played two games afterwards.
“So, I think he is completely ready to play 90. Sometimes in the beginning, it was that I saw he was tired and sometimes it is also having another player like Conor Bradley, who can do the job really well. So, he is able to play 90.”
Arne Slot faces another headache trying to find Conor Bradley minutes
Slot will hope Alexander-Arnold can now take his POTM performances for England against two lesser footballing nations in the Republic of Ireland and Finland forward to Liverpool’s upcoming matches. After they host Nottingham Forest this Saturday, AC Milan are next up.
Liverpool will kick off their latest Champions League season in the new format on Tuesday away at AC Milan. Slot will hope to make an early start on sealing a strong finish to UEFA’s league format first round, and Alexander-Arnold’s eyes will be on securing his second title.
But with Slot now convinced that Alexander-Arnold deserves to play the full 90, the coach faces another problem in finding Bradley the minutes he admits the youngster deserves. It may be that Bradley makes his case when Liverpool host West Ham United in the EFL Cup.
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