Trent Alexander-Arnold was accused of being affected by Real Madrid’s £20 million bid after his performance in the draw with Manchester United “could not have been much worse”.

The England international was substituted by Liverpool head coach Arne Slot before full time after suffering a torrid time at Anfield, which left former United captain Roy Keane claiming he would be better suited to “Tranmere Rovers” than Madrid.

Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville and Keane all savaged Alexander-Arnold’s performance in the 2-2 draw and suggested the “noise” around his potential switch to the Bernabeu was a factor.

Alexander-Arnold had been at fault for United’s opening goal and had repeatedly looked exposed as nearly 60 per cent of United’s attacks were funnelled down his side.

Carragher said he was just as alarmed by Alexander-Arnold’s lack of conviction getting forward, however, during an intense Sky Sports debate about his predicament.

“I thought he was really poor,” Carragher said. “The game couldn’t have gone much worse for him, there was always going to be focus on him.

“I was expecting him to put in a performance he has put in so often where he dominates the game from right-back. He’s a playmaker. I felt Man Utd’s system would play into his hands, there’d be a lot of space to get his head up and put crosses in.

“I thought he’d be thinking about how everyone’s talking about him negatively, and that he’d put in a really big performance. He was poor defensively, but there was nothing going forward on the ball.

“Only he knows if the talk affected him, but the fact he was so poor in the first game after Real Madrid put a bid in tells me it must have affected him.”

With Neville adding it was a “nightmare” performance, Keane and Carragher agreed Slot had waited too long before eventually substituting Alexander-Arnold in the closing stages of the second half.

Keane had been first to turn on the England defender at half-time after Amad Diallo and Rasmus Hojlund failed to convert first-half chances at Anfield. “It’s too easy,” he said. “Them [sic] chances for United [come from] a couple of balls over the top. We talk about how good Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today – my goodness, it’s like schoolboy stuff. There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid. He’s going to Tranmere Rovers [currently 20th in League Two] after this. He’s got to do better.”

Tranmere responded to Keane’s comments by posting on X: “Trent to Tranmere, Roy? Nah, we’re alright thanks.” The message was posted with an accompanying picture of the club’s summer defensive signing Cameron Norman.

Slot, however, denied interest from the Spanish giants had been a major factor in the display.

“I don’t believe in those things, but nine of 10 people will tell you it affected him. I will tell you he didn’t,” Slot said. “He played Diallo and [Bruno] Fernandes. It tells you how much quality United has.

“It’s more difficult for Trent to play against them than the rumours that were there. My opinion is different. It wasn’t that he had to play them on his own because Ryan [Gravenberch] was there, but he was in a one-v-one situation. It was clear Trent had difficult moments. The majority of moments he played for this team were very good. I don’t believe he has never played a bad game for this club.”

Neville accused Real Madrid of “taking the mickey” out of Liverpool by bidding £20 million for Alexander-Arnold at the start of the month in a week where they were facing fierce rivals United. Neville added “I don’t think he feels respected” enough at Liverpool but Real Madrid had “unnerved” him by bidding for him on New Year’s Eve.

“The bid from Real Madrid is bad timing for him,” said the former United defender Neville. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with him, but certainly if you’ve got that going into a big game, and you’re a local lad as well – that won’t be easy with the distractions.

“Real Madrid are a hell of an animal. It was insulting from them, they behave like that and think they can get what they want. But Liverpool are a club of immense stature, they’re never going to sell Trent Alexander-Arnold for £20 million in January. You’re taking the mickey a bit.

“That will have probably unnerved him. You can imagine his agent, family and friends asking him how he’s doing, and that noise going on in his head before the game. That won’t have helped.”

Neville then revealed how Carragher had told him for another podcast that he believed Alexander-Arnold’s advisors might have “invited” the Madrid bid for him last week.

Carragher then explained: “I’m not naive enough to think that Real Madrid would put a bid in in January for a player they could get for nothing in the summer.”

When challenged by Neville over his view, he suggested that a financial offer now could potentially be cited by the Alexander-Arnold camp in future if he leaves this summer for nothing. “There’s a frustration with Liverpool fans about him leaving for free but he came for free,” added Carragher, adding that the bid now and Liverpool’s subsequent refusal “buys a bit of time”.

“I’ve got no problem with that. It’s like selling Virgil van Dijk in the summer for £75 million. You are breaking even. It’s his choice.

“With Trent, I’m disappointed with the Real Madrid stuff coming out before a big game because all I’m thinking about and the most important thing is Liverpool winning the league.

“He will have known Real Madrid were putting a bid in for him. Real Madrid can do what they want.

“However, Liverpool are going for a league title. It’s January and he would have known about the bid and it has kicked up a fuss ahead of a big game.”

Analysis: How Man Utd exposed Alexander-Arnold’s defensive frailty

Trent Alexander-Arnold endured a torrid afternoon against Manchester United after Ruben Amorim’s side repeatedly targeted the Liverpool defender.

Alexander-Arnold, who is out of contract in the summer and weighing up a move to Real Madrid, found himself exposed by the United attack, with Lisandro Martínez, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Hojlund regularly targeting Liverpool’s right flank.

Telegraph Sport explains how they did it.

Ball over the top

In tough away games at Arsenal and Man City last month, United tried to draw the venom out of the contest with slow, deliberate build-up play involving their back three and André Onana. It was a sensible containment strategy but their possession, outside of the late flurry that won them the Manchester derby, was largely toothless.

They were more direct at Anfield, and as Arne Slot picked up on post-match it started from goalkeeper Onana. In a marked shift from United’s usual strategy, 80 per cent of Onana’s attempted passes were long, the most in any game this season. It was only the third league game this season in which Onana has gone long with 50 per cent or more of his passes.

United’s in-possession play was more positive across the pitch. They may have completed more than 400 passes at the Emirates and the Etihad compared with just 286 at Anfield, but a higher percentage of those passes were played forward and in the attacking third. Against Liverpool, 46.9 per cent of United’s passes were forward and 22 per cent were completed in the attacking third, compared to just 36.4 per cent and 15 per cent in their defeat at Arsenal.

The first half saw United find regular success down the Liverpool right flank thanks to Alexander-Arnold’s lax defending. When United took the lead in the 52nd minute through Lisandro Martínez’s goal, nearly 60 per cent of their attacks had been funnelled down Alexander-Arnold’s channel. By the end of the game, 54 per cent of United’s attacks had gone down their left.

The role of Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes was suspended for United’s miserable defeat by Newcastle, but returned against Liverpool with a captain’s performance which allayed fears about how he fits into Amorim’s system.

Fernandes has always been something of a roamer, and has been categorised as a classical No 10 who must be given a free role in order to flourish.

That was certainly not the case at Anfield though, where Fernandes played as one of Amorim’s two inside forwards behind lone striker Rasmus Hojlund. On this occasion, a number of Fernandes’s touches came close to the left touchline as he combined with compatriot Dalot.

Fernandes’ touchmap with United attacking from right to left

Whether it was Martínez or Fernandes in possession, United were able to play a simple ball over the top of the Liverpool back line, where Alexander-Arnold would be caught napping and give United a way in behind the defence. Both players fed a number of successful passes down Alexander-Arnold’s flank.

Fernandes’ completed passes with United attacking from right to left

United turn Liverpool’s Salah gamble against them

Alexander-Arnold was evidently struggling to cope with the waves of attacks coming his way, but the right-back received little to no help from Mohamed Salah in front of him. Liverpool take a calculated risk with Salah, allowing him to ‘cheat’ and stay upfield waiting for the counter-attack.

Given Salah threatens to break the Premier League record for goals and assists in a season, and Liverpool sit six points clear at the top, it is hard to quibble. It certainly makes Alexander-Arnold’s job harder though, while Slot was also critical of Ryan Gravenberch for not supporting the right-back more on his inside.

Most teams are reluctant to push their left-back forward when Salah is high, but the advantage of United’s back five was that Dalot could raid forward with sufficient cover. When United pushed forward on that side, Martínez pushed out to the touchline and Noussair Mazraoui tucked around, giving them the look of an orthodox back four.

Man Utd’s average positions away at Liverpool with Dalot (20) the most advanced wing-back

Wayward passing

The defence for Alexander-Arnold has always been his defensive weaknesses – which have been widely documented – are counter-balanced by his brilliance in possession. But on this occasion, his passing was letting both him and Liverpool down, with 14 of 60 attempted passes misplaced. Eight of these were from inside his own half.

Alexander-Arnold has always been a high-tariff passer – in eight Premier League games this season he has recorded a pass completion rate of lower than 70 per cent – but the scales between risk and reward were imbalanced against United.

Alexander-Arnold’s misplaced passes vs Man Utd

The most notable error came just moments before United took the lead. Having already been caught on his heels as United played yet another ball over the top, Alexander-Arnold picked up a loose ball but hurriedly cleared possession up field and into the feet of United defender Martínez as he collected it on the run and charged back upfield.

Having given away possession cheaply, Alexander-Arnold then allowed Fernandes to run away from him across the field, and failed to pick up Martínez as he loitered on the offside line, with the pair combining to allow the United defender to run onto Fernandes’s pass and blast the ball into the roof of the net.