Roy Keane left embarrassed by Slot ‘perfectionism’ with superb Trent first-half moment

There’s a video doing the rounds of Trent Alexander-Arnold’s intriguing training ground chats with Arne Slot over his defensive positioning.

It was explained on the Chris Moyles show that the Dutch head coach had been seriously picky over the fullback’s positioning, by degrees, during training sessions.

Meticulous, some might say. ‘Perfectionist’ in the words of Liverpool’s vice-captain.

 

Arne Slot’s coaching is paying dividends for Trent Alexander-Arnold

Our Academy graduate is, without question, increasingly benefitting from his new head coach’s focus on the small details of his defending.

A moment 22 minutes into the action during Liverpool’s Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen particularly demonstrated that point.

A wonderful exchange of passes by the visitors almost saw Victor Boniface released cleanly into Caoimhin Kelleher’s 18-yard box.

As the Echo‘s Paul Gorst noted on X (formerly Twitter), however, the opportunity came to nothing owing to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb tracking of the Werkself forward’s run.

The Nigerian international – who has scored eight goals across 13 games (in all competitions) – was instead banished to the advertising boards and the threat quelled.

Good defending from Alexander-Arnold to close the chance for Boniface, strike ends up coming from a tight angle and goes wide. The Leverkusen striker hurt himself in the process. https://t.co/G4UESOqXCO

— Paul Gorst (@ptgorst) November 5, 2024

Can Trent Alexander-Arnold really not defend?

One can only wonder what thoughts were rushing through Roy Keane’s mind – if he’s keeping an eye on proceedings between Leverkusen and Liverpool – as Trent demonstrated his growing defensive prowess.

The Irishman made it clear that his opinion on our generational fullback’s defensive contributions remains unchanged. That is to say, he felt Arne Slot’s recent handling of the 26-year-old during our 2-1 win against Chelsea.

“Trent? Everyone thought Trent was that brilliant defensively; the manager took him off with 10 minutes to go. Brilliant, isn’t it? Anyway, that’s another point,” the former Manchester United midfielder spoke on Stick to Football.

“With 10 minutes to go you’re 2-1 up and you take him off – that’s a great message. Yeah, we really trust you definitely.”

What do the stats say about the Liverpool defender’s performance v Leverkusen?

Sofascore handed the reported Real Madrid transfer target a 6.6 rating at the stroke of half-time.

The Liverpool favourite won 1/3 ground duels and registered one key pass (completing 23/27 passes) amongst 39 touches.

The post Roy Keane left embarrassed by Slot ‘perfectionism’ with superb Trent first-half moment appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.