Liverpool manager Arne Slot condemned the overblown criticism of Trent Alexander-Arnold as he praised his vice-captain’s response to last week’s performance against Manchester United.

Alexander-Arnold endured a tough day against United a week ago, but a world class goal in Liverpool’s 4-0 FA Cup win over Accrington Stanley was a reminder of his talents.

Slot took the opportunity to hit back at those whom he claims went over the top when singling out the right-back after the 2-2 draw with United.

“The biggest compliment Trent could get was the reaction of everyone after the Manchester United game,” said Slot.

“Every player around the world, maybe except for a few, has a bad game and that is completely normal. But the moment Trent has one, everyone has an opinion about it.

“Maybe, maybe that is because of the contract situation. I don’t know if that wasn’t there if people would have reacted in the same way. But the biggest compliment you can have is that if you have such a great first half of the season and you don’t play a good game against United — and that was clear for me, for you, the fans and the analysts who saw the game — but many of them were quite hard on him. And maybe that is the biggest compliment you can get?”

Slot said he was keen for Alexander-Arnold to play at Anfield again to get last week out of his system.

“I do think that it was important [to start him], but the [main] reason to play him was Conor Bradley came back from a hamstring injury and two days ago he played his first minutes against Tottenham,” he said.

“It is a bit unknown how our flight was that night, we couldn’t land in Liverpool so we went to Birmingham and came home really late. And, for me, it was too much of a risk to play a player who had a hamstring issue for a few weeks and only came back two days ago.

“The only other available full-back is Trent. As a result of him playing, It was good for him to play in our own stadium and feel the reception of the fans again. That was already fantastic against Tottenham. So it was also special again today and that can only help him and us. If you want to do special things this season, you can do that together, not only the players, the manager but definitely with the fans. I could talk for hours about his goal. Unbelievable.”

Accrington Stanley manager John Doolan offered his own tribute to Alexander-Arnold, having spoken to the player he once coached after the match.

“I did say before the game that I had coached Trent when he was six or seven and I don’t know whether he remembers it. Diane, his mum, probably would remember as she used to bring him to the training sessions,” said Doolan.

“At the end of the game, I didn’t see Trent. I walked across to our fans and he turned up behind me in flip-flops and a big coat and just said ‘I remember’. Then we just started chatting like I’d only been talking to him last week.

“He is such a wonderful and humble guy. He is a top, top player. To do that shows the class that he has.”

Doolan also revealed how Liverpool allowed his side to use the Premier League club’s training facilities before their tie, as the icy conditions had made it difficult for the League Two side to prepare.

“Our players now have memories for the rest of their lives. I said to the younger players after the game: ‘This is what you want, this is where you want to be’,” he said.