Former Red Michael Owen terms Trent Alexander-Arnold as one of Liverpool’s weakness

Liverpool’s poor form this season has been mostly because of a sub-par midfield and poor individual performances in defence this season. One name that pops up more often than not is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has not been at his best since the start of the campaign.

The 23-year-old right-back has been the centre of attention in Liverpool’s 3-3 draw to Brighton at Anfield on Saturday afternoon as well. The defender was at fault for Brighton’s second goal.

Moreover, he was out of position multiple times as well, with Joel Matip having to put the extra yard to cover for the Liverpool academy graduate. With so many gaps in the defence and Jordan Henderson not available at times to cover defensively for Trent, his mistakes were subject to fault-finding even more than before, eventually resulting in the defender facing criticism on multiple fronts.

And now, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen who played for the Reds between 1996-2004, has gone on to say that Alexander-Arnold has now become a weakness in Jurgen Klopp’s squad.

Trent needs to step up his game

The 2001 Ballon d’Or winner, speaking to BT Sport via the Daily Mail said that teams would rather identify the right-back not as an attacking threat but more as a defensive vulnerability when facing Liverpool.

“Most teams who play Liverpool identify Trent as one of the main attacking threats they need to stop. By the same token, they will also say their biggest opportunity for getting in is on his side.”

“Jordan Henderson has tended to try and cover for him but sometimes Jordan is not playing and that has been a cause for concern in certain games. One of Liverpool’s biggest strengths can also be one of their biggest weaknesses.”

Owen, who is known for his blunt takes makes sense on this occasion. It has come to notice this season that without proper backing up from the midfield, Trent has tended to make more mistakes than usual.

Given his attacking abilities and natural offensive instincts, it does not come as a shock that the team’s most creative player is guilty of losing possession a number of times. But with him bombing forward so regularly, space at the back opens up on his flank and causes the team to get a tad bit more vulnerable.

With Virgil van Dijk also not in the best of forms, Liverpool have faced difficulties in tackling the threat posed by pacy wingers. One could only hope that the Reds would do better when Trent, Virgil and the rest of the midfield find their feet this season.

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A spell on the bench could spark a change in Trent’s mindset this season, and might provide him a break from the game to think about what is not working for the right-back this season and reflect upon it to bring about a change in the later games in the season.