Jürgen Klopp summed up Trent Alexander-Arnold perfectly amid Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney digs

Having your performances endlessly pored over, analyzed and debated is par for the course when you are an elite footballer. One of Liverpool’s stars knows this better than almost anyone.

Is there any player in the Premier League who comes under greater scrutiny than Trent Alexander-Arnold? There aren’t too many who spring to mind. You would think someone with such sublime skills and passing prowess would be routinely praised, not torn to shreds for any mistake he happens to make. And even though that has mainly applied to his defending over the years, his capabilities in midfield are also now being picked apart.

This issue is bad enough for Liverpool games but it is amplified when it comes to England. The media vultures have been circling even before the Three Lions get their campaign underway against Serbia on Sunday. Fortunately, Alexander-Arnold is not stupid. He will value the opinion of Jürgen Klopp far more highly than the ramblings of a few former Manchester United players.

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We’ve recently heard the opinion of one of football’s deepest thinkers, Wayne Rooney. "I have watched Trent play in midfield a few times and I think you lose a lot of his qualities," he said on The Overlap. "His delivery is obviously incredible and of course he can pick passes from midfield, but I think he has to fight it out (with Kyle Walker at right-back).”

"I know Kyle is the best right-back in the world at the minute but I think midfield is such an important position. I would play Mainoo before Trent in midfield, 100 per cent,” Rooney concluded.

Gary Neville has never been shy of offering an opinion on Alexander-Arnold, usually a negative one. He and Roy Keane were recently speaking on ITV Sport ahead of England’s Euro 2024 opener.

"Against Serbia, they're going to play deep and we're going to need to find a way to cut them open, so I can see why Trent in there works for this particular match," Neville said. "But as the tournament goes on, I don't think it will remain that way — other players will come into the fold.

"What Trent playing there does is basically allow Kyle Walker to stay back almost as a third center-back,” Neville continued. “Trent can go out to the right-hand side then and deliver, almost like a right-back. I can see why it works but I'm not sure it will be the solution as the tournament moves on."

Keane agreed with his former teammate. "They will be fine in the group — Trent will be fine in those matches. But against the really top teams, I think he will be found out very much so,” he said. “I think if he plays against one of the better teams in the center of midfield, he will be ripped to shreds. I don't think he will be up to it."

Yet Alexander-Arnold’s former manager was “very happy” with his performances when inverting into midfield, as he explained to Rio Ferdinand’s Between The Lines on TNT Sports earlier this year. “Trent enjoys it,” said Klopp. “I think he is quite happy with the position and how he can interpret it. I am very happy with it. It’s good fun for a coach to see how the door opens up if you give a player a bit more freedom here.”

The German also defended Trent’s defending. “Of course there is space for improvements, nobody doubts he can improve defensively, but it’s not as bad as everybody makes it, it’s just the society we live in,” he said.

“Kyle Walker loses a defensive challenge from time to time, you don’t make a big story of it as he’s usually a really good defender, but if it happens it happens, it’s football. If it happens to Trent it’s always like it proves a point,” Klopp concluded. Now, to whose opinion do you think Alexander-Arnold will have paid the most attention?

Liverpool.com says: The pundits may be proved right regarding Alexander-Arnold's midfield credentials, we shall have to wait and see. Their endless carping is frightfully dull though. Liverpool supporters would love to see Klopp giving a little back to them on live TV.