Roy Keane has blasted the defending of Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold following his performances on international duty.
Alexander-Arnold started both of England’s recent matches in the Uefa Nations League against Greece and Finland.
The Liverpool star had mixed success, providing some fine moments at Wembley against Greece but playing his part in a shambolic England performance as they fell to a shock 2-1 defeat.
After starting at right-back against Greece, Alexander-Arnold switched to left-back for the trip to Helsinki.
The 26-year-old — who is in the final year of his Liverpool contract and currently linked with Real Madrid — was once again superb with the ball, completing 95 passes and 10 passes into the final third, while putting England 2-0 up with a beautiful free-kick.
But England were once again given a serious test by their opponents and Alexander-Arnold was guilty of being out of position a few times to allow openings for Finland.
Trent Alexander-Arnold once again blasted for his defending
Trent Alexander-Arnold training for England. (Photo by Cameron Smith/Getty Images)A supposed inability to defend has long been a criticism levelled at Alexander-Arnold, despite him being a key part of a Liverpool side that won the lot under Jurgen Klopp.
It appears his latest performance for England has done nothing to silence those critics, with former Manchester United captain Roy Keane unleashing a brutal rant on his apparent weakness.
“When you give Trent time, his delivery is fantastic. But I still can’t believe how bad he is defensively,” Keane told ITV Sport (via Sky Sports). “Against better teams, of course, he’ll get found out.”
Alexander-Arnold will likely pay no heed to Keane or any other pundit, instead focusing on putting in the sorts of performances that have made him one of the world’s best full-backs in recent years.
Trent will now return his focus to club matters, with Premier League leaders Liverpool hosting Chelsea on Sunday afternoon.
Top photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images