Trent Alexander-Arnold has at least temporarily silenced those who criticised him and suggested he is not committed to Liverpool, Reds expert David Lynch has argued.
Alexander-Arnold was heavily scrutinised for his poor display against fierce rivals Manchester United at Anfield on January 5 in what Lynch described as possibly his worst ever performance.
Arne Slot subsequently benched the defender for his side's clash against Tottenham Hotspur in the EFL Cup semi-final last Wednesday in favour of Conor Bradley, and some speculated that Slot's decision to bench Alexander-Arnold was further evidence that his head had been swayed by Real Madrid's January bids for him.
The right-back's contract expires in the summer, but Lynch was adamant that the Scouser's cameo against Spurs and his performance against Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup on Saturday proved that he is still fully committed, saying: "When he came on in that game [against Spurs], I thought he was absolutely fantastic - very unlucky not to score. They looked so much more dangerous in the half an hour when he was on the pitch versus the hour before that.
"Accrington was another big step as well, because the home crowd being there and those being the ones who gave [him] a little bit of stick after the United game, so it was really encouraging to see the crowd was firmly behind him.
"His job is to keep performing like that, and then there will be no question marks over him and nothing said, and hopefully no toxic atmospheres like we saw in that Manchester United game. So that's the task he has now, to keep that form going."
Alexander-Arnold scored Liverpool's second goal against Accrington from long range, and the Anfield crowd reacted warmly to the vice-captain despite expressing their frustration a week prior.
Was criticism of Alexander-Arnold criticism excessive?
Alexander-Arnold has taken a drastically different approach to rumours regarding his contract compared to Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who are both also set to leave the club for free in the summer.
Van Dijk and Salah have both publicly expressed their desire to stay at Anfield, while the Scouser has refused to comment on developments behind the scenes, but his insistence on privacy has arguably backfired as he has opened the door for fans and commentators to make assumptions about the reason for poor performances.
However, definitively saying that the vice-captain performed badly against United because of links to Real Madrid is difficult, something that Lynch was keen to express, telling Sports Mole: "Huge credit to the player for not dwelling on [the crowd's criticism] and not letting it affect him. You hope he can keep it going, and maybe that United game was a little blip along the road and we can see the best of Trent in the games coming.
"We will never know whether there was any link between the bids [from Real Madrid] and that performance [against United], but the big argument I was making at the time - and I wrote about this - was that the perception will exist that there is a link there.
"Therefore the only way to bury that is to either come out and say something or to make sure that your performances are always on point, and over the 90 minutes that we've seen over the last two games that he's appeared in, he hasn't allowed any doubts to creep in because he's been performing brilliantly."
Alexander-Arnold has come under fire for his relatively lax style of defending in the past, so there is every chance that it is the case that his display against United was just a poor performance rather than anything more.
© Imago
What Alexander-Arnold can still offer Slot
While Bradley possesses many admirable qualities as a right-back, there is an argument that Alexander-Arnold is the best full-back on the planet.
His skillset is undoubtedly unique among his positional peers considering the defender is able to break opposition defences from deep inside his own half thanks to his incredible passing ability.
Lynch told Sports Mole that there are few players in the Liverpool squad capable of being as influential on the ball as him, saying: "He makes 12 passes into the final third [against Spurs], which only Van Dijk gets level with - he makes 12 as well, but nobody else on the pitch gets anywhere near it, and that's with half an hour playing. It just shows you how important he is for progressing the ball.
"That goal [against Accrington] - we talk about the level of opposition, but I don't care who is in net for that one. It's postage stamp stuff and he would have scored that against anyone. You cannot take away from the quality of the strike.
"What kind of struck me most is he looked really happy in the moment after he scored. You can see with Trent sometimes the moody celebration, playing it cool, because he's that kind of character and he's a very cool, calm and collected character, but he looked genuinely pleased. Big smile on his face, which I think is fantastic to see."
When Alexander-Arnold is at his best, he is among the best creative forces in the Premier League, and Slot will need the right-back to be at his best if he is to guide Liverpool to Premier League glory at the end of the season.
Lewis Nolan
